Jana von Karma-Gavin: Ace Attorney
by Sith Droideka
Summary: 25 years after the events of Long Arm of the Law, the next generation of lawyers and lawyer-hanger-ons solve some cases and deal with the consequences of what we all thought was a dumb joke. OC heavy.
1. Family Turnabout

**A/N: Behold! The long-awaited(?) sequel to Long Arm of the Law!**

**I didn't go into huge detail with character description, so if you want to know what the aforementioned OCs look like, go to my tumblr and search under the "Janaverse" tag. If you don't know how to get there, I put a link on our profile.**

* * *

She had been waiting for a certain someone to show up for quite some time now, but they had yet to. Then someone finally showed their face.

"Hey, wait a minute-"

There was a struggle, then a gunshot. Started, the unwounded one dropped the gun and took off sprinting, leaving her to die in the alleyway.

She was fading fast and knew there was no hope for her. Shivering, she dipped her fingers in her own spreading pool of blood and began to write on the pavement - not a name, but…

* * *

_January 13, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom #4_

It was Jana's first trial, but she wasn't nervous. Not all. It wasn't like she had anything to prove, of course. Just because both her parents were prosecutors didn't mean she felt as though her entire life - all fourteen years of it - was on the line because she was debuting as a defense attorney.

"If you grip your riding crop any harder, it's going to break," her Uncle Wright said. He was her co-counsel - she hadn't wanted one, since _prosecutors_ don't have to debut with co-counsels, but Wright had insisted that she have someone. That someone ended up being him because he seemed to think that letting Jana's co-counsel be her mentor, Uncle Kristoph, was a bad idea. Feh. What did _he_ know?

"I am not nervous," Jana said. Wright sighed.

"I didn't say you were."

The Judge - a middle-aged woman named Juniper Justice that Jana knew very little about, except for the fact that she was the ex-wife of one of the senior lawyers at Wright Anything Agency, where Jana worked - banged her gavel a few times. "Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Ace Gumshoe," she said.

Jana stole a glance at the defendant's stand - there was Ace alright, dark-haired, big-eyed, 25-year-old son of the police chief, _current_ detective, and walking disaster zone. "The defense is ready, your Honor," she said, looking back at the Judge and steeling herself.

"The prosecution is ready as well, your Honor," the boy dressed in purple behind the prosecution's bench said. His name was Alois, he was two years older than Jana… and was also her brother.

"See," Jana muttered, "Alois doesn't have to have a co-counsel."

"Someone has to keep an eye on you," Wright replied, "and besides, look at the gallery just behind him. Blackquill is right there."

That was true. Jana knew both of their parents were somewhere in the gallery, but not by Alois, at least. Of course, that was because Alois hadn't directly studied under either of them, opting instead to learn "suggestive psychology" under Simon Blackquill. Jana wondered if he would even try to use it in a trial against her. She knew him far too well for fall for any of his tricks.

"It seems as though both the prosecution and the defense are getting younger every year," the Judge commented. Jana suddenly remembered the comment Kristoph had once made about all district judges having to get lobotomies, and, come to think of it, she wasn't sure that was a joke or not.

"Yes, your Honor," Alois said, "both of us recently passed the bar exam."

"We are prodigies," Jana added helpfully.

"I see," said the Judge, "well, Mr., um, von Karma-Gavin… oh my, this could get confusing."

"I have a solution for the problem of the shared last names," Jana offered, pointing her riding crop towards Alois, "you may call me Ms. von Karma, and him, Mr. Gavin."

"Well, Mr., er, Gavin?" the Judge said.

"I see no reason to object," Alois replied, bowing slightly.

"Very well," said the Judge, banging her gavel, "Mr. Gavin. Your opening statement, please."

Alois nodded. "On the night of January 11," he said, looking at his paper, "the defendant, Ace Gumshoe, was witnessed arguing with the victim, Detective Airey Verkhovensky. Shortly after this argument was witnessed, a gunshot was heard. Detective Verkhovensky was found dead in the, um, 'desolate alleyway' - where, mind you, she was seen summoning the defendant to before she left work - not long after that. The defendant's fingerprints were found on the gun recovered from the crime scene. Additionally, Detective Verkhovensky left a dying message, which the prosecution believes was intended towards the defendant." The gun, the autopsy report, and a photograph of the word "Overcoat" written in blood popped up in the Court Record.

Jana glanced over the autopsy report. Airey Verkhovensky, 27 years old, Police Detective originally from Atlanta, in Los Angeles on some sort of "detective exchange program" that probably had something to do with drug routes, cause of death: loss of blood due to a bullet wound in the abdomen. Her picture showed a thin, bespectacled androgyne with short dark hair and pale skin (she wasn't very photogenic, Jana noted). There was nothing particularly interesting in the report except for a strangely long list of things found in her pockets, which included gum, pliers, a screwdriver, electrical tape, a first aid kit with money in it for some reason, and even another gun (which had no fingerprints on it), but strangely enough, no cell phone. There was also a scribbled note from the coroner about how he was glad "she dead and abrasive personality gone with her," although that didn't accomplish anything except for amusing Jana.

There was nothing weird about the gun recovered from the crime scene - a police-issued gun assumed to belong to Ace - although she did raise her eyebrows at the photograph of the dying message. "Objection!" she yelled - she refused to admit the possibility that she _might_ be a little overexcited - "what makes you think that this word is naming Ace Gumshoe as the culprit? It is merely a word, nothing more."

Alois shook his head, his smile a lot like their father's. "Of course," he said, "Detective Verkhovensky was notoriously bad with names. It seems as though, even in her dying moments, she could not remember the name of the one who shot her, so she wrote down his identifying feature: the fact that he always wears an overcoat."

Jana looked at the defendant's stand again. Ace was, in fact, still wearing his overcoat, which he probably thought made him look big and manly like his father, but only emphasized how scrawny he was. _Foolish fool_, Jana thought. "Objection!" she said again, "there are plenty of others who wear overcoats! Even _your_ jacket could be considered an overcoat!"

Alois shook his head again, then leaned forward. "Surely you've noticed that the murder weapon was police-issued gun? Detective Verkhovensky's own gun was found on her person, so the culprit must have brought his own." He straightened. "Now, the only people on the force who get a gun but are still allowed to dress in civilian clothes, as opposed to a uniform, are the detectives. Of the detectives, only three people routinely wear overcoats: Detective Verkhovensky herself, Detective Noir, who has an alibi, and Detective Ace Gumshoe."

Jana growled. The dying message was still a problem. "How do you know it refers to someone who wore an overcoat _routinely_? She could have been referring to someone who was simply wearing an overcoat when they shot her."

"What would that accomplish?" Alois replied, "Don't forget, Airey Verkhovensky was a _detective_. Even if she was bleeding to death, she would still have had the presence of mind to leave an actually useful clue."

"That is conjecture!" Jana snapped.

"Keep in mind that dying messages like that are usually faked, at least in my experience," Wright told her, "so for now, just set it aside. It'll come up later."

"I agree," said the Judge, "Mr. Gavin, please call your first witness."

"Yes, your Honor," Alois said, putting his hands behind his back, "the prosecution calls the eye-witness, Genma H. Butirate."

A somewhat emaciated-looking man with nappy hair and sallow skin took the stand. He was dressed in a brightly-colored hoodie - the hood of which was pulled up over his head, shadowing his eyes - and black cargo pants.

"Witness, name and occupation, please," Alois said.

"M-My name is Genma H., uh, Butirate, sir," he said in a Southern accent, looking around nervously, "I d-don't currently have a, a, job."

"Please tell the court what you witnessed the night of the 11th," Alois instructed.

"Yessuh," Butirate said, quailing under the gaze of the Judge, even though she seemed like a pretty harmless kind of lady, "I, uh, was walking by that there alleyway where I, um, heard tw-wo people, uh, arguin'. I didn't see them, but they was, er, they were definitely that detective with the overcoat and that man over at the d-defendant's stand. I didn't w-wanna get involved, so I left, but I c-came back when I heard, I heard a gunshot. I've been aroun-nd gunfire before, so I hid, aaaand I saw the defendant shoot the de-detective again and then run by. He wasn't holdin' a gun or nothing'. After that, I c-called the po-po-police." He finished off his testimony with a frightened glance around the courtroom, and Jana noted that he was twitching.

"I ask that the defense goes easy on the witness," Alois said with the slightest trace of sarcasm, "seeing as he is clearly uncomfortable with courts."

"Y-Yessuh that's right, sir," Butirate said.

"I take it Alois doesn't bother background-checking his witnesses," Wright commented.

"Very well," said the Judge, "Ms. von Karma, your cross-examination, please."

Jana cleared her throat. "Witness," she said, slamming the bench with her riding crop (Butirate jumped almost a foot in the air, and Alois put his head in his hands) "Detective Airey Verkhovensky was shot at around ten minutes to midnight. What were you doing out so late?"

"Objection!" Alois yelled before Butirate could answer, "that has no bearing!"

"Please don't bully the witness," Wright told her.

Okay. Moving on. "In that case, witness, explain why you called the police and not an ambulance." She extended her hand, fingers splayed. "Detective Airey Verkhovensky's wound was not immediately fatal, and if the prosecution's 'dying message' theory is accurate to any extent, then she was still moving around after being shot."

"I, uh, I, um," Butirate said, tugging on the drawstrings to his hood, "I d-didn't see her moving around, I thought-t she was dead."

"So you immediately went to call the police after the shooting occurred?" Jana asked.

"Yessum."

"Do you claim to have seen Ace Gumshoe run by while you were calling the police?" Alois asked him. _No, you fool_, Jana thought, _don't lead him like that!_

"Yessuh, that's exactly what h-ha-happened, sir!" Butirate said, grinning. He was missing one of his front teeth.

"Very well," Jana said, "can you tell us what Detective Airey Verkhovensky and Ace Gumshoe were arguing about?"

"N-No, ma'am," Butirate said, "I wa-wasn't eavesdroppin' or anything'. My momma raised better'n that, she did."

Wright nudged her. _Ach, right_, Jana thought. "Witness," she said, pointing her riding crop at him - he jerked away from it as though it were a deadly weapon - "you stated that you heard _two_ gunshots in your testimony. Is this correct?"

"Y-Yessum it is."

"Objection!" yelled Jana, "the gun was only fired once!"

"Objection!" Alois yelled back, "the witness stated that he _heard_ one gunshot and _saw_ another, so it's possible that-"

"The first one musta come from the g-gun the detective was carryin'!" Butirate said suddenly, "I heard them ar-arguin', so there musta been a struggle!"

The court went silent, and Alois leaned on his desk, grimacing.

"Whassamatta?" Butirate said, pulling his hood's drawstrings again.

"Detective Airey Verkhovensky was indeed carrying a gun," Jana said, smirking, "however, that gun had not been fired!"

"Whaaaaaaaaat?!" yelled Butirate, pulling his hood shut and looking fearfully through the hole with one eye. "N-No, ma'am, I made a m-mistake! I didn't hear no sec-second gunshot, ma'am!"

"You said that you _saw_ the second gunshot," Jana protested, slamming her desk.

"Jana, stop, you're going to make him faint," Wright said.

"What does it matter?" Jana snapped, "I think it's obvious that this is clearly an untrustworthy witness, so-"

Wright rolled his eyes. "There are still some contradictions in his testimony. Just keep trying to find the truth."

Jana turned back to the court, scowling. _Who cares about the truth_, she thought. _I just want to win._ Nevertheless, she fixed Butirate with another glare and continued. "There is another thing puzzling me about your testimony," she said, "apart from your rampant foolishness in somehow mishearing _one_ gunshot as _two_. Tell the court, Genma H. Butirate, how you knew that Detective Airey Verkhovensky was, in fact, a detective-"

"Objection!" yelled Alois, "We have stated numerous times over the course of this trail that the victim was a detective!"

"Objection!" Jana shot back, "Let me finish! Besides, we have also stated that Ace Gumshoe is a detective, or was at least, yet the witness never once referred to the defendant as a detective! Additionally, Genma H. Butirate had not yet been called as a witness during the discussion in which Airey Verkhovensky was repeatedly referred to a detective - therefore, he was still in the Prosecution's Lobby and had no access to what was going on in the trial. He must have known that Airey Verkhovensky was a detective prior to the trial!"

Butirate recoiled, his hood dropping off his head. Alois looked startled - apparently he was realizing his error in not looking into the background of the random eye-witness. Butirate pulled up his hood again.

"Anyway," Jana continued, "the witness also has yet to explain how he knew Detective Airey Verkhovensky was carrying a gun! He was not in the courtroom for that discussion, either!"

"I, um, I saw her pull her g-gun out!" Butirate protested, "She was tryin'a protect herself-f f-from the detective!"

"Objection!" Jana said, "The gun was still on her person when her body was discovered - she had not drawn it at any point during the struggle!"

"N-No, I made a-another mistake," Butirate protested, "I mis-misspoke. I never saw her d-draw her gun - I knew she had it because, eh, she was wearing a holster!"

"Witness," Alois said, "I think you misspoke again. Detective Verkhovensky always kept her gun in her pocket."

Butirate twitched violently, tugging his drawstrings again. "Y-You're right, sir," he said, "w-what I meant to say waaas that s-she pulled her gun out f-first! During the argument! A-And the defendant wrestled it away from her and sh-shot her!"

Alois sighed deeply. Jana smirked. "Objection," she said coolly, "You have already stated that you only _heard_ the argument, not seen it. How are you to know that Detective Airey Verkhovensky was the first to draw a gun… especially considering she never drew her gun in the first place?"

"N-No!" Butirate yelled, "She drew a gun!"

"Your Honor," Alois said, "the witness is clearly confused."

"Do you wish to dismiss the witness?" the Judge asked, holding her gavel up.

"Objection!" Wright yelled suddenly, then looked at Jana, "You need to continue the cross-examination."

Jana sighed. "I would like to continue the cross-examination, your Honor," she said begrudgingly. Shouldn't she be focusing on the decisive evidence now, not the clearly useless witness?

"Very well," said the Judge. Alois frowned.

Jana hesitated, then looked at Wright. "Go on," he said, "there's an important contradiction in his testimony - one that he's not lying about. We've been completely misinterpreting at least one piece of evidence."

"Um…" Jana said, looking through the Court Record.

"Any day now, Jana," Alois said, back to grinning. _Shut up_, Jana thought.

"I'll give you a hint," Wright said, "Detective Verkhovensky was trying to break a habit of chewing her nails."

_Oh_. She cleared her throat. "Witness," she said, "do you maintain that Detective Airey Verkhovensky was the one to pull out a gun?"

"Y-Yes," Butirate insisted.

"Objection!" Alois said, "the gun had Detective Gumshoe's fingerprints on it, not Detective Verkhovensky's!"

"Objection!" Jana said, "That does not prove that Detective Airey Verkhovensky was not the one handling the gun at the time - seeing as how she constantly wore gloves! You cannot prove at what time Ace Gumshoe handled the gun!"

"Objection!" Alois said, "Do you mean to say-"

"-that the gun that shot Detective Airey Verkhovensky was, in fact, her own?" Jana said, extending her hand, "Yes. I do."

Alois pressed his arms against himself, sweating. "That doesn't make any sense," he said, "why would…?"

"Why would a police detective, who should be carrying his own gun, shoot her with the one belonging to her?" Jana said, shaking her finger, "You're right. It doesn't make any sense."

Alois stared at her for a minute, and then cracked into a smile and shook his head. "Of course it doesn't," he said, "assuming, of course, that Detective Gumshoe was carrying his own gun the day of the crime."

"…what?"

"I apologize for not bringing the court's attention to this earlier," Alois said, "but Detective Gumshoe had noticed that his gun was missing before a stake-out earlier in the day on the 11th, and consequently had to borrow one from an unnamed officer. At the time of the crime, no one knew where Detective Gumshoe's gun was!"

Now it was Jana's turn to recoil. "O-Objection," she said, "um…"

"We know exactly where the gun was at the time of the crime," Wright said suddenly. _We do?_ He looked at Jana expectantly.

"Well?" said the Judge. "Ms. von Karma, where was it?"

Jana crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Well," she said, then opened them again, "of course. Ace Gumshoe's gun… was in the pocket of Detective Airey Verkhovensky the whole time." She hit the defense bench with her riding crop. "You have made a grave misassumption, Alois!"

"Objection!" Alois said, "There were no fingerprints on the gun in Detective Verkhovensky's pocket!"

"Which means it could have been either one of theirs!" Jana continued, "Think about it logically. Ace Gumshoe misplaces his gun and borrows Detective Airey Verkhovensky's gun for the stakeout. However, at some point, Detective Airey Verkhovensky finds Ace Gumshoe's gun, cleans it, and asks to meet him at a point midway between the Police Headquarters and her house. At this point, she has two guns in her pockets. When she is beset upon by the real killer, she pulls her own gun - which still has Ace Gumshoe's fingerprints on it."

"Hmm," Alois said, "do you have any proof?"

"The placement of Ace Gumshoe's fingerprints on the gun confirm this," Jana said, extending her hand again. "As you can see, there is only one set of fingerprints, and it is slightly smudged at that. Obviously, those smudges came from Detective Airey Verkhovensky's gloves… and, most likely, the gloves worn by the real killer."

"G-Gloves?" Butirate said nervously.

"Of course," Jana replied, "Ace Gumshoe's fingerprints were the only ones found on the gun, therefore the real killer did not leave any." Alois rolled his eyes.

"Additionally," Wright said, "as you pointed out earlier, a detective will able to keep their wits about them in a stressful situation. So, let's say for argument's sake that Detective Gumshoe _is_ the killer. Why would he just leave the gun at the crime scene like that?"

"As if Ace Gumshoe could keep his cool like that," Jana muttered.

"That's really mean, pal."

"Jana, really, he's your _client_," Wright said, exasperated.

"Anyway!" Jana said, "That is how things played out."

"There's just one problem," Alois said, "the dying message."

Jana had completely forgotten about that. "Come on," she said, "how often are those _not _faked or tampered with?"

"Well," Alois said, "you appear to be going with the theory that the 'real killer' fled the crime scene immediately after shooting."

"…yes," Jana said cautiously, "otherwise, if the killer had any brains at all, they would have taken one of the guns with them."

"Then tell me," Alois said, leaning towards her, "at what point the killer had the _time_ to fake the dying message."

"Ach," Jana said, holding her hands up to her ears. _This is not good…_

"Calm down, Jana," Wright said, looking amused, "considering what we know now about the guns, the meaning of one piece of evidence has changed."

The dying message, obviously. Jana pulled up the photograph and stared at it. Perhaps it _was_ real. What, then, could it mean? Who could it be referring to? Who… or rather, _what_? "It seems you have made another grave misassumption," Jana said, a smirk sliding across her face.

"Oh?" Alois said, "Yes, go ahead and tell the court how you knew _exactly_ whatever it is you're talking about the entire time."

"Of course," Jana said, "The defense asserts that the dying message does not refer to a person."

"…what?" Alois said.

"Rather, it refers to an actual overcoat - the overcoat of Detective Airey Verkhovensky!" Jana said, extending her hand. The gallery broke into discussion.

"Order! Order in the court!" the Judge said, banging her gavel. "Ms. von Karma! Explain yourself!"

"Naturally, your Honor," Jana said, curtsying, "Detective Airey Verkhovensky knew full well that the gun she drew when accosted by the real killer would bear Ace Gumshoe's fingerprints, and as a detective, she realized the extent of the incompetence of the police force to the point where she knew they would most likely arrest Ace Gumshoe."

"Hey!" Ace protested, "Don't talk about the police force like that!"

"The defendant will remain silent!" the Judge said, "Ms. von Karma, continue."

"So," Jana obliged the court, "she left a dying message directing our attention to her overcoat, or specifically, to its pockets. There was an object in one of them that would be the key to establishing reasonable doubt: Ace Gumshoe's gun!"

"Ach," Alois said, supporting himself on the desk again, "Well played, Jana."

Jana smirked. Victory was hers.

"You're not done yet, you know," Wright said suddenly.

"Huh? But I established reasonable doubt, did I not?"

"That's just where the real trial begins," Wright said, "you still have to find the real killer."

Jana glared at him. Why did they even care? All they _should_ have to do was tear enough holes in the prosecution's case to get a not guilty verdict, and then be done with it. Finding the real killer should be the police's job, right? "This is why I wanted Uncle Kristoph as my co-counsel," she grumbled.

"What, and let the real killer get away?" Wright said, "Jana, this is an easy one. They're in this courtroom…"

The crowd started murmuring. Butirate was eyeing Wright now, his drawstrings starting to fray.

"…because no one ever remembered to dismiss him from the stand," Jana finished begrudgingly. She pointed her riding crop at Butirate. "Genma H. Butirate," she said imperiously, "the defense formally indicts you for the murder of Detective Airey Verkhovensky."

"W-Whaaaaaaaaat?!" yelled Butirate, and his drawstrings snapped, his hood falling off his head.

"On what grounds?" Alois said, putting his hands in his pockets, his face impassive.

"On the grounds of his incredibly suspicious testimony," Jana said, crossing her own arms, "for instance, how did he know Detective Airey Verkhovensky was carrying a gun? Because she drew it on him. And why did he call the police instead of an ambulance? Because he knew she would die shortly - and he wanted it that way."

"…good show," said Alois, shaking his head, "one problem: all of your evidence against Mr. Butirate is purely circumstantial."

"I…" Jana trailed off. That was true.

"That's not true," Wright said, "Mr. Gavin. It's already obvious that you didn't check the background of your witness-" Alois cringed. "-so I take it no one ever searched him."

"He wasn't a suspect until now," Alois protested.

Jana saw where Wright was going with this. "Perhaps a search is in order," she said, eyeing Butirate gleefully, "after all, a dried-up wimp like him would have next to no chance in a fight against a detective. He may have gotten her gun somehow, but at what cost?" She pointed her riding crop at the Judge. "Your Honor! The witness must be searched for injuries sustained during hand-to-hand combat with Detective Airey Verkhovensky!"

"You, uh, y-you can't prove th-that's where they woulda come from!" Butirate protested, clutching his hoodie, "I - I live in a bad, um, part of to-own. I g-get into lots of f-fi-fights!"

"There will be something unique about these injuries, though," Wright said, putting his hands on his hips and grinning, "since Detective Verkhovensky wore gloves to break a habit of chewing her fingernails… it would be impossible for you to have scratch marks."

"N-No," whispered Butirate, his eyes going wide. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" he suddenly screamed, shaking violently and covering his eyes with his hands. "I-I'm s-s-sorry! I made a mi-istaaaaake!" He slumped over the stand.

"…Herr Butirate?" Alois said, slipping back into his out-of-court speech patterns.

"I admit it," Butirate said hollowly, "I knew Detective Verkhovensky from back in Atlanta." He fell to the floor and laid on his back, holding one trembling hand up to the courthouse ceiling. "She got a bunch of my buddies in a drug bust, and the dealers were after my head - I woulda caught the blame if she'd been able to shut down the Los Angeles-Atlanta route. So I followed her here." He sighed deeply. "I thought I got lucky when I cornered her in that alleyway… but I guess I didn't after all."

A few minutes later, Butirate was lead away in handcuffs. The court was silent.

"Well," the Judge said, "I suppose there's no reason not to hand down my verdict."

"Go ahead, your Honor," Alois said, looking somewhat bored.

"Hurry up, your Honor," Jana said. Wright stepped on her foot. "Ow."

"Very well. This court finds the defendant, Mr. Ace Gumshoe, **NOT GUILTY**." She banged her gavel. The crowd cheered. Confetti fell. Jana grinned at Alois as obnoxiously as possible. "This court is adjourned!"

* * *

_January 13, 12:34 PM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #4_

"That could have been over so much faster," Jana complained.

"Don't act like Butirate wouldn't have skipped down before the follow-up investigation began," Wright said, shaking his head.

"That would make him _not our problem_," Jana pointed out.

"Oh look," Wright grumbled, fingering his cowlick, "another gray hair."

_Most of your hair is _already_ gray_, Jana thought, but before she could point that out, the rest of her family walked in.

"Good job, Jana," her father, Klavier Gavin, said, picking her up in a massive hug.

"Thank you, Papa," Jana said, grinning. She felt a weird sense of relief at Klavier's congratulations, despite the fact that neither of her parents had ever shown _explicit_ disapproval of her career choice, and had in fact forced Wright Anything Agency to oversee her training and, now, hire her.

"Indeed," her mother, Franziska von Karma, said, her arms crossed, "a flawless victory, despite your brother's strong case."

Speaking of her brother, Alois looked pretty relaxed for a prosecutor with a _losing_ record. "It's not like I thought Ace was guilty anyway," he said suddenly, "he's simply not the type to shoot someone."

"He probably does not have the mental acuity for committing a murder," Jana said, shaking her finger at Alois.

"…thanks, pal," Ace said. Whoops. She had completely forgotten he was still there.

"Scruffy Junior Detective," Franziska said to Ace, "your parents are waiting for you in the hallway. They wish to congratulate you. Go to them."

"Yes, sir!" Ace said, perking up, and ran out of the room. Completely coincidentally, the doorknob rolled off of the door as soon as he shut it.

"So…" Wright said, "transferred again?"

"Most likely," said Klavier, then added, "I think this probably sets some sort of record."

"No," Franziska said, "Scruffy Junior Detective managed to keep his job at the vehicle impound for almost two months last summer, remember?"

"Yeah, before that car blew up," Wright said.

"Nein," Klavier said, shaking his head and laughing, "I didn't mean time-wise. I meant, this is probably the worst incident his luck has ever landed him in. No one's ever died before. By the way, Jana, please stop harassing your brother."

Jana stepped away from Alois, where she had been pulling on his ponytail only a moment before. She was unsure how Klavier even knew she was doing that, considering none of the adults were looking at them and Alois was doing his best to ignore her and therefore not saying anything. He finally glanced at Jana. "Loser," she mouthed at him.

Wright checked his watch. "Well," he said, "it's 12:45 already. Jana, do you want to head off with your parents or come back to Wright Anything Agency with me?"

Jana glanced at her family. "Go ahead," Franziska said, "stay with Phoenix Wright. Piano Gavin, Alois, and I will be heading back to the prosecutorial offices."

"Okay," Jana said, "I will see you at home, later."

"Call me if no one can drop you off," Klavier said as the three left, "I'll bring my hog."

Jana waited until the broken door shut (well, sort of) and then turned to Wright, frowning.

"What?" he said defensively.

"Nothing," she replied, "just that Papa's motorcycle makes your cab rides extra lame by comparison."

"There's nothing wrong with cabs," Wright protested.

Jana rolled your eyes. "Just get your driver's license already."

* * *

_January 13, 3:00 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

Wright Anything Agency wasn't your typical law office. That much was obvious. For one thing, the two most experienced lawyers there, Diego Armando and Jana's precious uncle Kristoph Gavin, were both convicted murderers who had been pardoned under questionable circumstances 25 years ago. Athena Cykes and Apollo Justice both still worked there, and Justice's daughter, Watson Justice, studied there, although she kept herself relatively distant from her father. Additionally, the ghost of Dahlia Hawthorne had more or less haunted this very office for two and half decades now, which meant that occasionally things would randomly light on fire, and then they'd have to call up someone from Kurain Village to channel her so that they could at least know where she was. Also, she was apparently dating Kristoph, however that worked, and they occasionally claimed to be married (in the same "emotional, not legal" way that Armando was married to Mia Fey), but the only one who believed them was Pearl Fey and her husband. Adding to the chaos was the fact that the head of the law firm, Phoenix Wright, lived here, along with his husband of five years Miles Edgeworth, and his children from a previous marriage: Misty, Maya Valerie, and Diego. His oldest son, also named Miles, had lived in an old apartment complex near Gourd Lake for about four years now, after suing for emancipation shortly after his 14th birthday.

There was also a parrot named Polly. And a huge plant named Charley, although it didn't do much except sit there. It made for an interesting contrast against all the various magic props that were _still_ there, despite the fact that Trucy had gotten married and moved to Texas over a decade ago. Her kid sometimes came to visit, but Jana had never met Trucy's husband, and in fact did not even know what Trucy's last name actually was. Maya Valerie said it was something that started with an "M", but she wasn't sure either.

However, with Wright Anything Agency being fairly famous and having a decent amount of lawyers to go around, on an average day it was really only hectic because of the aforementioned children, parrot, and magic props. Wright always tried to have at least one adult (NOT counting Dahlia) there, but that didn't always work out, especially considering that no one really seemed to count Watson as an adult; Jana wasn't sure if it was because the lab-coat-wearing blue-eyed brunette-with-a-bracelet looked a lot younger than she actually was (just like her father) or because she hadn't passed the bar exam yet.

Today was one of those days. As it turned out, everyone (except for Edgeworth, he was still chief prosecutor and as such was working) was out on some case or another, including Wright, who had apparently skipped part of an investigation so that he could "keep an eye on" Jana during the trial. "This is why we always try to have an investigative partner," he had explained before he left - apparently this time around, his partner was Misty, whom Jana didn't really consider bright enough to handle an investigation on her own like that even if it was only two or three hours, but whatever. There were worse things that Wright could do than leave a 15-year-old in the company of detectives.

The result? Watson, who only had six years' advantage over Jana, was spinning idly in the chair at Armando's desk, while Diego watched some old children's TV show and Maya Valeria and Jana chatted. Dahlia was nowhere to be seen.

Maya Valerie was Jana's best friend and probably the only person that Jana would accept as a co-counsel, although Wright had already explicitly banned it. Probably because she acted exactly like Dahlia's sugary side - Jana had never seen her angry, although was probably because usually it was Jana getting angry on her behalf. Actually, even though she was only 12, she looked exactly like Dahlia, too, although that was mostly because she greatly resembled her mother, Iris Wright, who had gone missing (and presumed to have been killed) shortly after Maya Valerie and her twin, Diego, were born. She dyed her hair red. No one really knew where she got the dye, except for Jana, because Maya Valerie had once confided that Kristoph bought it for her just to piss off her father.

"I'm boooooored," Watson groaned suddenly.

"What do you expect us to do, Wat?" Maya Valerie asked.

"I don't know," Watson said, "Diego. Please turn that off before I rip the TV out of the wall."

"But I like the Cadmium Samurai!" Diego protested.

"Come on, Diego," Maya Valerie said, tilting her head and smiling at him as a butterfly fluttered by, "won't you please turn it off?" Behind her, Jana smacked her riding crop against her palm and glared at the spiky-haired boy.

"…fine," Diego said, switching the TV off and eyeing his sister and cousin-by-marriage-and-adoption. _Works every time_, Jana thought.

"I wish someone would come in with a case," Watson grumbled, "honestly, I wouldn't even mind assisting Jana." She rolled her eyes - it was no secret that she resented the fact that Jana had gotten her attorney's badge so young and now outranked her.

Maya Valerie and Diego looked towards the door, almost expectantly, but no one came in with a case. "That usually works," Maya Valerie sighed.

"Hey," a voice behind Jana said suddenly, and Jana was suddenly overtaken with a cold that reached her bones.

"Hi, Aunt Dahlia," both Maya Valerie and Diego said cheerfully. Jana didn't turn around. She wasn't terribly fond of ghosts - Dahlia was all white skin and floating hair, and quite frankly it creeped Jana out.

"Where were you?" Watson asked, eyed Dahlia suspiciously.

"Does it matter?" Dahlia said, floating into Jana's field of view. She passed through some sort of bizarre cabinet-box-thing and sighed. "If no one gets rid of these stupid magic props soon, I'm going to light them on fire."

"Aren't they flame-retardant?" Diego said, tilting his head, "I thought you already tried that."

"Shut up," Dahlia said, flipping her hair. Somehow.

"…sometimes I really wonder why Trucy bothered making them like that, anyway," Maya Valerie said, looking down and putting her fist to her chin.

"And sometimes I wish Mr. Wright would just get rid of them," Watson sighed melodramatically, "can't he just ship them to Texas?"

Jana looked the trick cabinet prop up and down. "I think it would take a lot of money to ship that."

"Did I ever tell you about the time I got the ice-cream man to give me a free popsicle?" Maya Valerie said, her smile sweet but with a hint of mischief.

"Are you proposing you do the same with the shipping man?" Jana said.

"I don't see why not."

"Eh," Dahlia said, "it'd be easier to get some chump to pay the shipping fees for you."

"That is true," Maya Valerie said as another butterfly joined the one already circling her head.

"See," Diego said, "this is why Dad doesn't want you hanging out with Aunt Dahlia."

"Which one?" both Watson and Jana said immediately - it was pretty much a habit to ask that for anyone who routinely talked with Wright's kids.

"Phoenix, obviously," Dahlia said, flipping her hair again. "Edgeworth could care less."

"Maybe that's why he never falls for Valerie's 'charms'," Diego muttered. Jana hit him with her riding crop. "Hey!"

"Why would I want to trick _either_ of my daddies?" Maya Valerie said, big, fake tears in her eyes.

"Give me a break," Watson said, "I saw you trying to 'convince' Mr. Edgeworth to let you keep wearing that stupid tank-top earlier." Jana glanced at Maya Valerie, who was in fact wearing her typical loose-fitting tank top which Edgeworth never approved of.

"…yeah," Maya Valerie said, grimacing slightly. "That never works."

"Hoodie trick?" Jana asked.

"Hoodie trick," Maya Valerie confirmed.

"I kind of miss wearing actual clothes," Dahlia commented, "the only clothes I ever get to wear nowadays are those stupid Kurain channeling uniforms."

"…that's nice," said Watson, "so, do you have anything to alleviate our boredom other than irritating u- AAAAGH!" Dahlia had suddenly blinked out of existence and at the same time, the file that Watson had been idly skimming burst into flames. "No! _This was important!_" Watson screamed, gathering up the burning papers and sprinting for the kitchen. "Agh! Ow! Hot hot hot!"

"When will she learn not to wish for excitement in _this_ household," Maya Valerie sighed as the sound of running water came from the kitchen and Dahlia rematerialized. Jana shrugged. Never a dull moment at Wright Anything Agency… except when there was.

* * *

**A large majority of this fic is centered around the cases themselves, as opposed to the various shenanigans the characters get up to. It's intended to be far less cracky than LAL was, and in fact is intended to be quite serious.**

**Anyway, a heads-up: the next chapter (which is currently completed, mind you) won't be uploaded for another week. In the meantime, feel free to review and express some choice opinions on my characters!**


	2. Turnabout at Sea, Part I

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, although updates on this fic will be relatively slow and sporadic. Sorry, but I have a lot going on... much of which has to do with the recent release of the full AAI2 patch...**

* * *

_April 7, 9:35 AM, Wright Anything Agency_

There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Maya Valerie said immediately. Currently in the office were Armando, Cykes (who was just picking something up), Wright and two of his kids, Dahlia probably, and Jana herself. Justice and Kristoph both had cases (Misty was with Justice), Edgeworth was working, and who knows where Watson kept disappearing to. She did that.

Standing just outside the door was a tall, tan, buxom woman dressed in red and black whom Jana had not seen in two years.

"Maria's back!" Maya Valerie yelled. Maria smiled vaguely and stepped into the lobby.

Maria Fey-Armando, along with her younger brother Miguel, was proof that life could come out of death. She was born 24 years ago out of what Franziska once called "a misuse of channelling" and was raised almost entirely by her father - after all, you can't reasonably expect a woman who had been dead for over ten years to be able to help much. That didn't mean that Maria didn't act like Mia, though, at least according to Armando. Or at least she used to, anyway. Three years ago she was hired by Quetzalcoatl Law Firm and joined some church where they weren't allowed to drink coffee. She changed after that, becoming more serious and distancing herself from her family after arguments over religion started breaking out, and she had spent the last two years overseas with little to no contact with anyone back in LA.

"Maria," Armando said, standing up.

"Dad," Maria said coldly.

"Did you just get off the plane?" Armando said.

"No," Maria said, looking around the office, "I swung by the Prosecutorial Offices to see Miguel first." Jana saw Cykes frowning and wondered what Miguel had said to Maria, since presumably she sounded sad or angry or something. However, Maria didn't elaborate and Cykes didn't interrupt.

"Well, we're glad to have you back," Wright said cheerfully, "uh… how was Columbia?"

"Fine," Maria said, smiling stiffly, "Uncle Phoenix, I need to talk to you… privately," she added, glancing at her father.

"Sure," Wright said, and they stepped aside into another room.

"I take it things haven't changed much," Cykes said once the two were gone.

"Nope," Armando said, sipping his coffee. "Not surprising, really. The only contact she had with us for two years was an e-mail on holidays and birthdays."

Cykes rolled her eyes. "You don't need to be hard on her, Mr. Armando," she said, "I wish you could hear her emotions like I did."

Armando said nothing, but gave off the impression of raising an eyebrow (he still wore the mask; apparently, the damage to his vision was irreparable, but Jana suspected that even if it could be fixed, he wouldn't do it).

"Alors," Cykes said, "she sounds a lot happier in general now than she did three years ago, but she sounds really sad when she talks to you."

"Maria? Happy?" Armando said, scoffing. "The last time I saw her crack a genuine smile-"

"When was the last time _you_ cracked a genuine smile?" Cykes demanded.

Armando frowned and drank his coffee silently.

"-well, it is unusual, but I don't see why not," Wright was saying as he and Maria walked back into the room.

"Thank you, Uncle Phoenix," Maria said.

"Hey, Jana," Wright said, "Maria here is going to be your, well, I can't really think of a better term than 'handler', actually."

"Pretty fitting term for someone like Jana," Armando commented.

Jana raised an eyebrow. "Since when do I need a handler?"

"Since QLF decided you did," Maria said.

"QLF? Your law firm?" Jana said, incredulous.

"Doesn't Miles work there, too?" Diego said.

"He's in a different department," Maria said, "anyway, for the most part I'll just be joining you on your investigations and helping you in court." _For the most part?_ Jana thought, and she didn't need the Justices' bracelet powers to see that Maria's grip on the notebook she was carrying had tightened.

"I don't need help," Jana said, playing with her riding crop. "Besides, I'd rather have Maya Valerie as my co-counsel, if I _had_ to have one."

"We know," Cykes said, "but there was a _reason_ why the Boss banned it."

"One that was proved last month," Armando added, sipping his coffee.

Jana smirked. Last month, Maya Valerie had successfully convinced her father to let her join Jana at the defense stand. It was fortunate that she did, actually, since they had a fairly weak case and there were multiple people in the agency who informed Jana that her client was, in fact, guilty. In fact, after Jana and Maya Valerie won their "not guilty" verdict, a follow-up investigation made it abundantly clear that the accused was, ultimately, the real culprit. However, due to the fact that between Maya Valerie's charms and Jana's intimidating aura, the court had been completely wrapped around their fingers and thanks to double jeopardy, a man got away with armed robbery scot-free. Winston Payne II hadn't stood a chance.

Of course, after that Wright grounded Maya Valerie for a week and made it very, _very_ clear to everyone that he was to be slapped if he ever agreed to that ever again.

"Well, at least we actually got paid for it," Maya Valerie said cheerfully.

"That was dirty money," Cykes said, gathering up some files and sighing. "Anyway, I should probably be going. Kristoph's waiting for me." She left.

Everyone tried to ignore the awkwardness that sprung up in the room as Armando and Maria did their best to completely ignore each other. The twelve-year-olds eventually disappeared somewhere into the part of the building where they actually lived. Wright picked up the phone on the first ring and from the sound of it, Trucy was on the other end and judging by the poorly-disguised dismay on Wright's face, Trucy's real jerk of a kid, Copper, would be visiting soon.

Fortunately for Jana's sanity, the door burst open and someone screamed "Athenaaaaaa!"

"You just missed her," Armando said to the new arrival: a dark-skinned woman with bright blue dreadlocks drawn back into a formidable ponytail, which clashed with her yellow kimono. Jana recognized her as Satsuma Blackquill, the 27-year-old adopted daughter of the prosecutor and completely bushido naval historian.

"O-Oh," she said, scratching her head, "I apologize for my rudeness."

"It's fine," Armando said, "now, is this just a social call, or…?"

"My friend's in trouble!" Satsuma said, suddenly firing up, "He's been arrested, but I know he didn't do it!"

Jana jumped up. Finally, something to do!

"I take it you want to take this one, Jana?" Armando said, slurping his coffee.

"Of course I do, Diego Armando," Jana said, pointing her riding crop at him.

"Then I suppose Maria's going with you, is that right?" Armando said.

"Yes," Maria said.

"Well, you can't have a good brew with only one ingredient," Armando said.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't compare me to coffee beans," Maria said, sighing.

"Just behave yourself, you two."

"Come on!" Satsuma said, grabbing both Maria's and Jana's wrists and dragging them out the door. "To the detention center!" Wright waved at them.

* * *

_April 7, 10:16 AM, Detention Center_

"Nymphicus-dono!" Satsuma yelled, shoving Jana and Maria in front of her as she ran into the visitor's room, "I got you a defense attorney!"

"Looks more like two to me," the man behind the divider said. He wore gray, layered clothing that reminded Jana of medieval European armor, had a beaky nose, rosy cheeks and black eyes, and his hair was white, except for a stripe of yellow that fluffed up majestically over his forehead. Essentially, he looked like a cross between a knight and cockatiel. "And I thought you were going to try and get your mother?"

"Athena's not my mother," Satsuma said, "she's just a close friend of Chichui's-" which is what Satsuma called Simon Blackquill, apparently it was an old Japanese word meaning "father", "-and also Uncle Diego said I just missed her."

"Ah," the cockatiel-knight said, "so, who are these two?"

"I am Jana von Karma-Gavin, prodigy defense attorney, daughter of Franziska von Karma and Klavier Gavin, granddaughter of Manfred von Karma, Geschützt of Kristoph Gavin," Jana said, tilting her head arrogantly.

"…and my name is Maria Fey-Armando," Maria said, eyeing Jana, "I'm not a defense attorney. I am Jana's assistant."

"I see," the cockatiel-knight said. "…'Geschützt'?"

"I could not think of the word in English," Jana admitted.

"Protégée," Maria said, "the word is _protégée_."

"That is French," protested Jana.

"That's nice," drawled the cockatiel-knight, "I suppose I should introduce myself," he added, drawing himself up, "my name is Bertrand Nymphicus. I'd shake hands if I weren't currently being detained on suspicion of murder."

"Ah, so it's a murder case," Maria said, scribbling something in her notebook, "very well, tell us what happened."

"Well," Nymphicus said, "I'd like to know myself. I came below-deck for dinner two days ago, but instead of finding my meal I found a dead body."

"Were you the first to discover the body?" Maria interrupted.

"I assume so," Nymphicus said flippantly, "I mean, there were only three or four of us onboard that day, and one of them just turned up dead."

"Hold it," said Jana, throwing a glare at Maria, "you keep saying things such as 'below-deck' and 'onboard'. Where exactly is the crime scene?"

"Oh," said Satsuma, "I suppose I should have explained my relationship with Nymphicus-dono: we are co-workers. We're both part of a group of five naval historians currently living and working aboard a replica of the _Yamoto_."

"So the murder took place at your workplace?" Maria said, holding her hand up to her mouth.

"Hold it!" protested Jana, "isn't the _Yamoto_ a huge ship? How were there only four people onboard that day!?"

"Well," Satsuma said, scratching head and looking away slightly, "yes, the _Yamoto_ is a pretty big ship: 65,027 tonne displacement, 263 meter overall length, 38.9 meter beam, 11 meter draft… and our _Yamoto_ is a full-sized replica. However…"

"…it's not a fully functional replica," Nymphicus finished, "and certain things have been, well, augmented with modern technology anyway. You don't really need anyone to run it."

"It's currently harbored," Satsuma said.

Jana frowned. Something still didn't make sense. "Why is there a replica of the _Yamoto_ in the Los Angeles Harbor?"

Both Satsuma and Nymphicus looked awkwardly away from Jana.

"It's a tourist attraction, isn't it?" Maria said drily.

"Y-Yes," Satsuma admitted.

"!" Jana said, "Two days ago was a _Saturday_! Why were there only four people onboard?"

"There have been some safety concerns," Nymphicus said, his crest lying down a bit, "so we're a little… closed."

"Wait a minute," Maria said, toying with the corner of one of her notebook pages, "if there's been some safety concerns… did the police immediately assume foul play?"

"Yes, but they had reason to," Nymphicus said, still looking away, "Kit Glauketas died because he ingested potassium cyanide."

Jana crossed her arms. "It is fairly difficult to pin suspicion on someone if the MO was poisoning, and yet you were arrested fairly quickly," she said.

"That's because it was my food that was poisoned," Nymphicus said, "and Kit had a habit of stealing food."

"That hardly seems suspicious," Jana said.

"Well, there was also the fact that when Nymphicus-dono says he went down for dinner, it was really more like he went down for a midnight snack," Satsuma explained, "since he refused to eat with us earlier. And… there were some threatening notes found in Glauketas-dono's quarters."

"In your handwriting?" Maria asked Nymphicus.

"They were forged," Nymphicus explained. Maria tilted her head at this, narrowing her eyes, but said nothing.

"Bertrand Nymphicus," Jana said, changing the subject, "please explain your relationship with Kit Glauketas."

"What relationship?" Nymphicus replied, "We were co-workers, nothing more. I'm not fond of small talk, so most of my relationships are on a strict, professional basis."

"He doesn't have very many friends," Satsuma said, then clapped her hands to her mouth. "I'm sorry, Nymphicus-dono, that was very impolite of me," she said, bowing furiously, "I meant to say, you don't talk to very many people."

"So you were neither friends nor enemies with the victim?" Maria asked.

"Yeah," said Nymphicus, waving off Satsuma's apologies, "of all my crew-members, my only friend is Satsuma Blackquill and my only enemy is Ragnar Svavarsson."

"Just out of curiosity," Maria said, tallying up the names on her fingers, "who is the fifth historian?"

"Oh," Satsuma said cheerfully, "that would be Goemon-dono. She was the one who told the police that Nymphicus-dono didn't eat dinner with the rest of us."

"Hyla…" Nymphicus seethed, "she'll pay for this once I get out of here."

"Assuming we accept your case, which technically we haven't yet," Maria said pointedly, "there is no guarantee that Jana would get you declared innocent."

"Who do you think I am?" Jana snapped.

"The point is," Maria continued, ignoring Jana, "please don't threaten anyone. It makes us_ somewhat_ less inclined to defend you."

"Sorry," Nymphicus said, although he didn't sound sorry, "but I didn't kill anybody. It'd just be so much easier to find who really _did_ if she'd've just kept her trap shut." He slammed his fist on the glass, his hair suddenly poofing up (everyone jumped back except Satsuma, whose hand jumped to her sword instead). "How do the cops even know that it wasn't a suicide?!"

"Did Mr. Glauketas exhibit any suicidal tendencies?" Maria asked, recovering her composure quickly.

"How am I supposed to know?" Nymphicus grumbled, settling down.

"I don't think he did," Satsuma said, holding her upper arm and looking down, "I think I would have noticed. Chichui taught me how to tell people's secret emotions."

_Not Athena Cykes?_ Jana thought. Then again, Alois had once mentioned that discerning a person's emotional state was essential to the "art" of suggestive psychology.

"The police must have had some reason for ruling out suicide," Maria said, her hand hovering an inch away from her mouth. "I suppose we can ask them when we get to the crime scene." She sighed. "So I suppose we're taking your case, Mr. Nymphicus."

"Sweet," was Nymphicus' only response.

"We should probably head out," Jana said.

"I'll go with you," Satsuma said, "since you'll probably need my help getting on the ship in the first place."

"Prove me not guilty, will you?" Nymphicus called after them as they left. "Oh, and tell Svavarsson I said, 'Screw you!'"

* * *

_April 7, 12:31 PM, Los Angeles Harbor_

Maria had been silent the whole way there, but she finally spoke when the three boarded the _Yamoto_ replica.

"He was lying."

"What?" Satsuma said.

"You mean to say, Bertrand Nymphicus is the murderer?" Jana said. Frankly, she didn't really care.

Maria shook her head. "He wasn't lying when said he didn't kill anybody," she elaborated, "but he was when he said the threatening notes were forged. Three psyche-locks," she added, touching the faintly glowing Magatama that hung around her neck.

"Oh," Satsuma said, "well, I'm sure there's _some_ sort of explanation for that." She raised her fists angrily and frowned slightly. "We need to see what was written on the notes! They might not have been addressed to Glauketas-dono!"

"I agree," said Maria, "the notes were probably taken out of context… Satsuma. Is Nymphicus fond of theater, or prop-making, or something? Any innocent reason for writing those notes?"

"That does not seem likely," Jana said, "considering that he lied about them being forged." She crossed her arms. "If the reason why they existed _did not_ serve to further incriminate him… why not explain that to us?"

"It's possible that Nymphicus-dono doesn't trust you," Satsuma admitted, scratching her head. "I mean, he doesn't know you. And I _did_ tell him I'd bring Athena, and instead brought you."

"I should be more than sufficient," Jana grumbled.

"Honestly, Jana," Maria sighed, "I've known you since you were _born_ and I _still _don't trust you." Jana frowned and attempted to hit Maria with her riding crop, but apparently Maria had much faster reflexes now than she had before she went overseas.

"B-But the real killer must have come from outside!" Satsuma said, punching her palm, "None of us would kill anyone-!"

"But Nymphicus was a bit… touched in the head," a hoarse female voice said softly.

"Hä?" Jana said (on accident, she usually tried to keep English and German separate, unlike her father and brother), turning towards the source.

The voice belonged to a tall, stocky woman dressed entirely in blue and white with spiky pigtails, yellow eyes, and a pink scarf that covered her nose and mouth. "Excuse me," she said, "are you Nymphicus' lawyers?"

"Yes," Maria said, and gestured towards Jana before she could speak up, "this is Jana von Karma-Gavin, attorney at law. I'm her assistant, Maria Fey-Armando." _I can introduce myself, thank you_, Jana thought, irritated.

"Ah," the woman said, "Blackquill said she was going to get her mother, though…."

"For the last time, Athena's not my mother," Satsuma grumbled, "Why does everyone think that?"

"Anyway," the woman said, extending her hand with a sudden swiftness, "I'm Dr. Hyla Goemon, naval historian and current 'captain' of the _Yamoto_ here." Maria shook her hand and Jana curtsied.

"So, you were the one who told the police about Mr. Nymphicus' suspicious behavior?" Maria asked, notebook out again.

"Yes," Goemon sighed as they began walking along the deck, "I'm expected to testify about it in court tomorrow." She put her hands together, tapping them slightly on the bulge in her scarf where her nose probably was. "And I must say, I feel it's my civic duty to tell the truth as accurately as I remember it. So, don't expect you'll get a helpful testimony from me simply because Nymphicus is my subordinate."

"No problem," Jana said, smirking.

"You never liked Nymphicus-dono anyway," Satsuma said exasperatedly, one hand sliding off her hip.

"He had terrible anger issues," Goemon said stiffly, "I always feared for our safety around him. Especially yours, Blackquill." Satsuma looked confused. "Anyway," Goemon continued, "even if you get him a 'not guilty' verdict, I still intend to fire him. Things are pretty tight around here, considering the _Yamoto_ is closed to the public, and we just lost a valuable historian. A scandal is not going to help."

"Oh… come on, Goemon-dono. He didn't do it!" Satsuma exclaimed, looking almost theatrically like she was going to cry.

"I'll be glad to be rid of him," Goemon said.

"As will I!" a new voice boomed. They had reached one of the entrances to the blow-deck area. "Good morning! Fine seas, eh?" A tall, muscular man in fur-trimmed clothes (was that leather?) walked over to them. He was blond, blue-eyed, and sharp-nosed, with long, glorious hair and beard, both of which had a few small braids in them. His teeth were so straight and white that his smile looked like it belonged to a dentistry advertisement. _Oh my_, thought Jana, trying not to stare. Why was this guy a _historian_? "You must be Bertrand's lawyers! I see that Satsuma must have just missed Athena," he said, shaking both Jana's and Maria's hands firmly. His fingers were warm and rough and strong. "My name is Ragnar Svavarsson!"

"I- actually, I'm only the assistant here," Maria said, holding her hands out in front of her a bit, "my name is Maria Fey-Armando, and this is the actual defense attorney-"

"Jana von Karma… Gavin, I believe? I recall you also had a hyphenated last name," Svavarsson said, laughing, "Satsuma told me all about her younger friends."

"If I remember correctly, Bertrand Nymphicus named you as his only enemy," Jana said after curtsying.

"Yes," Svavarsson said, taking off his cap, his face growing serious, "I believe that Kit's death was accidental. If there's anyone that Bertrand would have wanted to poison, it was me."

"Have a little faith in him, Svavarsson-dono," Satsuma protested, "Sure, Nymphicus-dono _may_ have had a _bit_ of an anger issue-"

"Most certainly true," Goemon said.

"-but I can't believe he'd poison someone!"

"Don't worry, Satsuma," Maria said, folding her arms, "he didn't."

"Yes, I've heard how much your firm emphasizes trusting your clients," Svavarsson said, "although I fear it may be misplaced here."

"Regardless," Jana said, smirking, "I intend to defend him to the fullest of my ability."

"Ah, that's nice to know," Svavarsson said, laughing again. His laughter was deep and rich, like bells intended to guide a sailor through a treacherous fjord. "In that case, I'm sure he has nothing to worry about… except being fired as soon as the trial's over."

Maria cleared her throat. "We are here to investigate the crime scene," she said pointedly.

"Of course, of course," Svavarsson said, stroking his beard, "well, it's just down there. Swarming with cops, can't miss it. Hyla can accompany you."

"Off so soon, Svavarsson?" Goemon said, raising an eyebrow.

Svavarsson laughed. "There's not much for me to do here," he said, "they've already decided that I wouldn't be much help as a witness."

Svavarsson walked off, whistling some sort of sea shanty, and Jana, Maria, and Goemon headed below-deck. As soon as Svavarsson was out of sight, Maria nudged Jana.

"What?" Jana said irritably.

"Don't think I didn't see making goo-goo eyes at Svavarsson," Maria whispered, looking vaguely amused, "so I wanted to remind you that he's twice your age."

"I - I know!" Jana whispered back, growling, "and I _was not_-! I do not think he is handsome, or-"

"Psyche-lock," Maria said in a sing-song voice. Jana sighed. This was probably the closest she'd ever get to the _old_ Maria ever again, so she might as well let it slide.

Svavarsson was right: it was hard to miss the crime scene. The mess hall - probably not what it was actually called, but Jana knew Satsuma well enough to know that asking anything about ships was invitation to have your ear talked off - was indeed swarming with police officers. The party of four stopped right outside the police tape, which Jana leaned past in order to give the crime scene a good look.

At a glance, anyway, it looked like there was more evidence to be uncovered in the victim's or suspect's quarters. The only noticeable thing in the room was the plate of rice sitting on the table, and the rope outline of a corpse lying on top of it.

"Jana!"

Jana looked up. "Alois? What are you doing here?"

"I'm in charge of this case," Alois said, playing with his hair, "why wouldn't I be here?"

"You never go to crime scenes," Jana pointed out.

"Ach, Jana, you know that's only if there's blood," Alois said, making his "angry" face that honestly looked more like he was pouting.

"Whatever. Can we come in?"

Alois glanced back to the only other non-uniformed person in the room: a white-skinned, white-haired detective wearing a black trenchcoat and fedora who was currently inspecting the sink. "Fräu Detektivin Noir, is it okay if I let the defense attorney in here?"

The detective turned around. Jana knew her only slightly, but disliked her. "You tell me," she said in a Chicago accent, "I'm not the high pillow here."

"Come on in," Alois said, grinning, "just don't touch anything."

"This is not my first crime scene," grumbled Jana, pushing the police tape aside and walking in. Maria followed her, but Satsuma and Goemon stayed in the hallway.

"Entspann dich," Alois told Jana, then his eyes fell on Maria. "Maria! Ich glaube, ich spinne!"

"I take it Miguel told you I was back?" Maria said, picking her way over towards the table.

"Of course," Alois said, grinning, "but I wasn't sure if he was serious or not. Obwohl, unlike _some_ people," he added, glancing at Jana, "I never started to think that you would just stay in Columbia."

"How was I supposed to know that she would not?" Jana retorted.

"Ach nee, I was right," Alois said mockingly. Jana shoved him away and stalked off to the table.

"Detective Blanche Noir," Jana said, pointing at the plate of rice, "is it safe to assume that this is what had the potassium cyanide in it?"

Detective Noir glanced at Alois, who shrugged. "Yeah," she said, adjusting the brim of her fedora, "and there's enough Nevada gas in there to chill a horse. Glauketas didn't stand a chance."

"Is there an autopsy report yet?" Maria asked, looking at Alois, pen out.

"We're expecting it soon," Detective Noir said, "they carted off the stiff not long after Nymphicus had his elbows checked."

_…the arrest, right?_ Jana thought. She didn't understand this woman.

"But according to the initial examination, the only thing we're really _lacking_ is a time of death, and according to Fräu Doktor Goemon, it's probably between 11:00 PM on the fifth and 4:00 AM on the sixth," Alois said.

"11:00 being the last time Kit Glauketas was seen alive?" Jana said.

Alois nodded. "And 4:00 being when the body was discovered by Herr Nymphicus."

"Prosecutor Alice, sir!" an officer said, jogging towards Alois, "the autopsy report has come in!"

"Thank you, Herr… Johnson, was it?" Alois said, taking the manilla folder he was handed.

"Jameson, sir!"

"Well, you got my name wrong, too," Alois said, pouting.

"There's already a Prosecutor von Karma and a Prosecutor Gavin, sir," Jameson said, "and Prosecutor von Karma-Gavin is really long…"

"Nein," Alois said, putting his hands on his hips, "I understand. I have no objections to being called by my first name… it's just that, it's Alois, not Alice. _Alois_."

"Sorry, sir!" Jameson said, and jogged out of the room. Alois sighed.

"Uncle Miles would cut his pay," Jana recommended.

"And Mama would whip him," Alois said, rolling his eyes. "Do you have a point?" He pulled the autopsy report out of the envelope.

"I want to see!" Jana said, grabbing his elbow. Alois responded by holding up the report higher so that she couldn't see it. _Jerk_, Jana thought. Alois was taller than her to begin with, so why he felt the need to wear shoes with two-inch heels on top of that was beyond her. "What does it say?"

"The time of death was approximately 2:30 to 3:30 AM, the morning of the sixth," Alois read out.

"So it was almost still warm when Nymphicus found the stiff," Detective Noir said, "hm. Think maybe he gave Glauketas permission to eat his rice?"

"Wouldn't Glauketas think that it's suspicious?" Maria said, pushing her hair out of her eyes, "according to your theory about the threatening notes, anyway."

"Presumably," Alois said, playing with his own hair, "although I wonder what kind of person Herr Glauketas was. Who steals a plate of rice at three in the morning?" While he was talking, Jana snatched the autopsy report from him and looked it over herself. It seemed that death had come swiftly for Kit Glauketas: while Jana didn't exactly know how much potassium cyanide it took to "chill" a _horse_, there was an absolutely unnecessary amount of it in the rice that had actually made it to his stomach. There were also no wounds or anything (except that he was blind in one eye, but according to his medical records he had been born that way), so Glauketas had apparently eaten the rice of his own volition - although Jana had never heard of anyone being forced to eat poisoned food at gunpoint. Still, if that happened, she might be able to claim that Nymphicus had an alibi. Other than that, really, there was nothing special about the victim: he was a thin, rat-faced man who needed a shave, and his clothes were sarcastically described by the coroner as "much like pirate, except not intimidating. This pirate not get much booty."

Sometimes Jana really wondered about the district coroner.

"Shall we go check up on the gumshoeing of the victim's room?" Detective Noir said. Alois nodded, and Jana and Maria followed them to the living quarters "area" - although this was a huge ship and everyone got their own room, they were all placed adjacent to each other in the area where over two thousands sailors (approximately 2,800, actually, according to Satsuma's explanation that no one really listened to) would have slept on the real _Yamoto_. The only exception was Goemon's quarters, which were up in the tower bridge.

Glauketas' quarters were spartan in nature, except that his bookshelf was filled with trinkets, some of which looked broken, and his walls were plastered with all sorts of posters and photographs. There were less cops in here than there were at the actual crime scene.

"Did you already send the notes off to handwriting analysis?" Satsuma asked.

"Yep," Detective Noir said, then handed Jana a stack of photographs, "but I figured you'd be asking, little bim. Here."

_What did she just call me?_ Jana wondered. Giving Detective Noir the benefit of the doubt, she ignored it and flipped through the stack: each picture was of a different note, and each note contained some… pretty graphic threats. Not everything was merely a death threat, in fact. "Disgusting," Jana muttered.

"Ja," Alois said, looking up, "I wonder what Herr Nymphicus' problem was?"

Detective Noir shook her head. "That nance is absolutely bing."

Jana blinked. _Is she just making up words? How does Alois put up with this?!_

"He claims no relationship to the victim," Maria said, holding her hand up to her mouth, "…he also claimed the notes were forged."

"You sound less than sure," Alois said, leaning towards Maria.

"Last I heard she was on the lay for QLF, not WAA," Detective Noir said, "so I suppose she has no need to 'believe in her client'. She's not even a proper lip, are you, Fey-Armando?"

"Um, no," Maria said, fiddling with her notebook again, "although I know that Nymphicus _isn't_ the culprit here."

"Have fun with that," Alois said, raising an eyebrow. He knew about the Magatamas… but he also knew that they could be fooled. Jana still didn't care.

"We'll just have to wait and see what the handwriting analysts say," Detective Noir said.

Jana flipped through the photographs again. She was unsure if anyone else had noticed this, but not a single one had been specifically addressed to Glauketas. In fact, none of them were addressed to anyone: the intended recipient of notes was generally referred to with a variety of vulgar corruptions of pet names. "Any fingerprints on them?" she asked.

"Sort of," Detective Noir said, "Nymphicus' fingerprints were all over them like a bellbottom on a bearcat. We also found some partials - right now we're assuming that they belong to Glauketas, but it'll take a while to get confirmation."

"Hmm…" Maria said, moving her hand away from her mouth, "Jana, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Are you two thinking that someone was playing Nymphicus for a patsy?" Detective Noir interrupted.

"Whether or not you assume the partial fingerprints belong to Kit Glauketas, they are still unconfirmed," Jana pointed it, "so, yes, he was… being played for a… patsy? He was framed."

"Mach den Kopf zu," Alois said, playing with his hair again, "you've talked with the guy, ja? Leaving notes like these wouldn't exactly seem… out-of-character."

"Maybe they weren't even intended for the victim," Maria said.

Alois rolled his eyes. "You sure gave up on the 'forgery' defense fast."

"Just because someone writes a note-" Jana began, but Alois cut her off.

"No one has any business writing notes like _that_ and walking the streets a free man," he said, frowning, "so we need to get him on the first crime, and lock him up. There. Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen."

Maria sighed and Jana rolled her eyes. "Well, have you found anything in Bertrand Nymphicus' room?" Jana asked.

Alois smiled smugly. "Should we tell them, Alois?" Detective Noir said, "I mean, everything's all silk for us, but we might not be able to keep it that way unless they breeze off."

"It's fine," Alois said, laughing softly, "why don't we head over to Herr Nymphicus' quarters? This you have to see for yourself."

Jana and Maria exchanged a glance before following Alois and Detective Noir to the adjacent room. Satsuma continued standing in the hallway in relative silence (Goemon had left half an hour ago).

Nymphicus' room looked like a tsunami passed through it. "Are the police seriously this sloppy?" Jana wondered out loud.

"It was like this when we got here," Detective Noir said, "we assume that daisy gee liked to keep his scatter in such a state. He was completely off the track by the time he got copped, anyway, so who knows what he normally was like."

_I understand those words individually_, Jana reflected, _but strung together they make absolutely no sense._

"It looks like it's been searched in a hurry," Maria said dubiously. Detective Noir shrugged. "Seriously," Maria continued, "was he arrested in his room, and how much time passed between his arrest and when you actually came to search it?"

Detective Noir scratched her chin. "He called copper when he found the stiff, and apparently dusted the scene immediately after that. He was above-deck when we pinched him, so we didn't see his room until we began searching it at… what, seven this morning?"

"This morning?!" Jana exclaimed.

"Well, yesterday _was_ Sunday," Alois said, frowning, "we were a little short. All we could really do that day was seal off the deck and send the remaining historians elsewhere."

Maria looked around. "Pretty suspicious," she said to Jana.

"Nein," Alois said, shaking his head, "in between the arrest and when we sealed off the deck, there was no opportunity for someone to search Herr Nymphicus' room _or_ plant evidence." He played with his hair. "Let's see… Fräu Doktor Goemon was in the tower bridge and never went down to this deck after dinner Saturday. And both Satsuma and Herr Svavarsson were off-ship until this morning, when we called them here for questioning."

"I… I see," said Maria, grimacing.

"Which is why this is genuine," Alois continued, picking up an evidence bag with a plastic container in it, "it was found in Herr Nymphicus' desk." He handed it to Jana. "The prints were wiped, but guess what was inside?"

Jana didn't say anything and only glared at Alois.

"Potassium cyanide," Alois said, smiling softly.

"Of course it is," Jana muttered angrily.

"Hey, komm mal wieder runter," Alois said flippantly, "you can't get innocent clients _all_ the time, despite whatever Onkel Wright would have you believe."

"I believe it would be more accurate to say I cannot get _easy cases_ all the time," Jana said, handing the evidence bag back, "I _will_ defeat you in court again, Alois."

"Ja, ja, I know, your precious winning record," Alois said, pouting, "you know things are different for a defense attorney, nien?"

"I do not see how," Jana replied.

"Okay, break it up," Maria said, pulling Jana back from Alois, "Jana, let's just head back to the detention center and see what Nymphicus knows about that container." Jana gave Alois one last glare and stalked off behind Maria.

* * *

_April 7, 3:58 PM, Detention Center_

"Bertrand Nymphicus," Jana said, arms crossed, as soon as Nymphicus walked into the room on the other side of divider. "Explain yourself."

"Eh? What do you want from me?" Nymphicus said.

"Why was the container of potassium cyanide found in your room?" Jana said.

"It was planted, obviously," Nymphicus said, kicking back in his chair, "I don't know where it came from."

"He's not lying," Maria pointed out.

"Okay," Jana said, "explain the notes."

"What do I have to explain?" Nymphicus said, frowning, his hair poofing up slightly.

"The fact that handwriting analysis revealed that _you_ were the one who wrote them," Maria said. Jana eyed her dubiously but said nothing. Apparently some traits, like bluffing, were carried in the blood.

"!" Nymphicus sat up so fast he almost fell off his chair. "What?!" he said, banging on the glass again, hair up all the way. "How?!"

"Handwriting analysis _is_ very accurate, you know," Maria said idly (while Jana hid behind her - an old riding crop couldn't protect her from someone behind bulletproof glass… wait), toying with her notebook again, "although we _do_ believe that the notes were planted." She looked Nymphicus in his beady eyes with a steely glare. "We just want to know why those notes existed in the first place."

Nymphicus gave them both a long look, sweating nervously the whole time. "I…" he said, and his throat clicked, "I don't think I have any obligation to explain myself to you," he said at last, "all you two chickies need to concern yourself with is getting me off the hook for the poisoning of Kit Glauketas. After that, it doesn't matter."

"What?!" both Jana and Maria said.

"If you'd like to think there was a perfectly innocent reason for me to write those, feel free," he said, crossing his arms tightly, "but, as far as I know, they are completely unrelated to Kit's death. They weren't even directed towards him." He turned around. "Guard!" he yelled, "take me back to my cell!"

"Mr. Nymphicus, wait-" Maria began, standing up, but Nymphicus had left. He stared at the chair where he had just been sitting for a moment, then growled and slammed her own fist against the glass. "_Drat_," she hissed.

"How are we going to explain that away?" Jana said, crossing her arms again and closing her eyes.

"I don't know," Maria mumbled, "but I still doubt that they were directed towards Glauketas. Which means… there's still someone out there that Nymphicus wants to do _horrible_ things to."

Jana opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Are you proposing I throw the trial to protect this 'someone'?"

Maria shook her head. "What kind of justice is that?" she said, "No. Nymphicus didn't kill Glauketas, but someone did. We need to catch them, too." _Right_, Jana thought, mentally rolling her eyes. "But once Nymphicus is loose… well…."

"Perhaps the safest route would be to find out who he was really threatening," Jana said, extending her hand.

Maria nodded.

* * *

_April 7, 5:00 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

According to Armando when Jana and Maria told him about everything, the wisest course of action would be to start with the animosity between Nymphicus and Svavarsson. No one had any contact information for Svavarsson, so Maria had called up Satsuma and asked her to come to WAA. And now, they waited.

"Okay," Maria groaned, leaning back in her chair so far she was in danger of falling off, "I know I'm not the best at showing up on time-"

"You got that right," Armando said, sipping his coffee.

"-but this is getting ridiculous," Maria finished, glaring at her father.

"At least trial's not 'til tomorrow," Maya Valerie, who was playing with Polly, said.

"Trial's not 'til tomorrow!" Polly repeated - apparently, she used to say something else, which had been retrained out of her four times now, and this was only the replacement phrase (the previous one had been "Valerie NO" and apparently the one before that was "DL-6 is _over_".)

"Anyway, are you worried, Jana?" Maya Valerie said, putting Polly on Jana's shoulder.

"Of course not," Jana said, petting the bird, "the matter of the notes serves to complicate things a little, but victory is certain nonetheless."

"Honestly, Jana," Maria said, "where do you pick these things up?"

Jana frowned. "My… mother," she said. What kind of question was that?

"Ha…!" Armando said, and drank his coffee, "It's nice to know that 25 years of marriage can't tame a wild mare."

"25 years?" Maya Valerie said, frowning, as Polly snapped at one of her butterflies, "Isn't Alois only 16?"

"Fertility problems," Jana said, shrugging (Polly squawked in protest). Quite frankly, she didn't want to think about it.

"It's funny because she only married Rock Star so that she could 'continue the von Karma line'," Armando said, "everyone thought they would just get divorced when a year passed with no pregnancies."

Jana frowned. "I am glad that did not happen," she muttered, thinking about the Justice families: she didn't have all the details, but apparently there was enough divorce-and-remarriage-and-separation drama between the Judge, Watson's mother (a high-ranking detective, if Jana remembered correctly), and Justice himself to rival a Mexican soap opera. (According to Armando, anyway. Jana had never seen a Mexican soap opera. Come to think of it, she was pretty sure Armando didn't speak Spanish _either_. Subtitles?)

As far as Jana knew: Justice and the Judge had gotten married very young (well, it was mostly that the Judge was very young, since Justice was a few years older than her) and had a son whom Jana had only met a few times when she was younger and did not remember his name. However, rumors always flew that Justice was cheating on the Judge with the detective, and after about a year of marriage, the Justices divorced and full custody of their son went to the Judge (who kept the last name), although apparently the son resented both of his parents growing up, and spent most of his time with the Wrights. Anyway, immediately after the divorce, Justice went straight to the detective, and in about four years' time, they were married and had a daughter, which was Watson. When Watson was, what, ten? Jana wasn't sure - they separated because apparently all they did was argue, but they never officially got divorced and the Judge never got remarried and - this was just a rumor - the son had gotten kicked out of a couple different private schools and the only thing keeping him from a criminal record was the fact that his mother was a respectable judge.

All in all, Jana was pretty impressed that Watson appeared to be so well-adjusted.

Jana's musings on the nature of marriage were interrupted when Satsuma _finally_ showed up. "Sorry I'm late," she mumbled, scratching her head embarrassedly.

"It's about time," Maria said, getting up, "we had some questions about Nymphicus."

"Is this about the notes?" Satsuma asked, putting her hands on her hips, "because I really don't know anything about them."

Maria shook her head. "Actually, we were wondering about the relationship between Bertrand Nymphicus and Ragnar Svavarsson. Why are they enemies?"

"O-Oh," Satsuma said, laughing nervously, "well, that's a pretty simple question. The answer is, well, last year there was a bit of a… workplace love triangle beween the three of us. It didn't end well."

"Please elaborate," Jana said, transferring Polly back to Maya Valerie. She tried to imagine _anyone_ approaching Prosecutor Blackquill and asking for his daughter's hand in marriage… maybe that was how it didn't end well?

"Okay," Satsuma said, sitting down on the chair that Maria offered her, "so, last year, or I guess it may have started the year before, both Nymphicus-dono and Svavarsson-dono were, um, very fond of me. A rivalry sprung up between them…" she frowned, and scratched her head, "but in the end, it was pointless. They fought about it for a while, and then decided to put the decision to me. I rejected both of them."

_You rejected Ragnar Svavarsson?_ Jana thought, _Are you nuts?!_

"But after that," Satsuma continued, "they continued hating each other like that."

"I see," Maria said, folding her arms, "now, was this because they both still had feelings for you…?"

Satsuma shook her head. "Both of them said they were fine being just friends," she said, more cheerfully now, "and neither of them made any more advances. I assume the reason why they still hate is each other is…" she shrugged. "I don't know, you know how sometimes, you just kind of continue hating someone that you hated in the past, just because it's easier than reconciling your differences? You know, just being enemies with someone because you're enemies and that's that."

"…I think you missed the part where men don't think like women," Armando commented loudly.

"R-Right," Maria said, ignoring her father again, "so, Satsuma, we've… kind of noticed Nymphicus' anger issues. When you rejected him, did he get mad?"

"Not really," Satsuma said, "sure, he was a _little_ upset, but he was pretty civil about it. A lot more civil than he usually is, actually," she added.

"That is... odd," Jana said.

"It is," Maria agreed, "Satsuma, what would you say your relationships with Nymphicus and Svavarsson are like today?"

"Just friends," Satsuma said, declining Maya Valerie's offered parrot, "Svavarsson-dono didn't change his behavior much - he's still very protective and caring, you know how it is." Maria frowned. She didn't, Jana guessed. "Although… Nymphicus-dono _did_ change a little bit. I can tell he's angry about something, and I think it might be that he's still mad at Svavarsson-dono, and ever since I turned him down, he's been acting a little… stand-offish?" She fiddled with the handle of her sword. "That's not the right word."

"Does he act like he knows something you don't, and that makes him better than you?" Armando offered.

"That's it!" said Satsuma, raising her fists, "and Svavarsson-dono always acts a little strangely whenever he's around both of us. Like he's keeping an eye on Nymphicus-dono."

"…I understand," Maria said, smirking, "Well, thank you for your help, Satsuma. You can go now." Jana glanced at Maria, uncertain. However, if Maria knew what was going on… Jana wasn't really sure it was important enough to object, anyway.

"Well, okay," Satsuma said, looking at Maria suspiciously, "glad I could help, at least." She stood up, and straightened her back. "I've already had one friend die. I'd appreciate it if you could keep another one out of jail."

"Of course," Maria said, giving Satsuma a wide let's-talk-about-Jesus smile, which was probably the most sincere one could muster. Which wasn't saying much. "That all depends on Jana, though," she added.

"Do not worry, Satsuma Blackquill," Jana said, smacking her riding crop against her palm. Satsuma sighed, nodded, and left. Jana turned to Maria. "What did you figure out?"

"Only the intended target of the threatening notes," Maria said, smirking and flicking her hair out of her eyes.

"You sound like your mother," Armando muttered.

"Who is it?" Maya Valerie asked, placing Polly on Armando's head (fortunately for her, Armando was sitting down, so she could reach, and also he didn't react).

"I believe Svavarsson," Maria said, holding her hand up to her mouth.

Jana raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? …just because they're enemies?"

"Well," Maria said, "it's either him or Satsuma, but Satsuma didn't know about them."

"Didn't you say the notes weren't specifically addressed towards anyone?" Armando interjected.

"They are not," Jana said, "so, who are we to say that the notes were not directed towards Satsuma Blackquill?"

"And someone was hiding them from her?" Maya Valerie said.

"Well," Maria said, "the problem with that is _who_ and _why _the notes would have been hidden from Satsuma."

"The way Jana makes him sound, it seems like the sort of thing Svavarsson would do," Armando offered.

Maria shook her head. "There's still the problem of why. Satsuma is a first dan blackbelt in Kashima Shinden and always has her sword on her. If you knew she was receiving threatening notes, why would you hide them from her?"

Jana frowned. That was true. Satsuma could definitely handle herself. "Maybe… Ragnar Svavarsson was worried that Satsuma Blackquill would injure Bertrand Nymphicus?"

"Isn't that the point?" Armando commented.

"Svavarsson hates Nymphicus," Maria said, "so I don't think he would be concerned for his safety. Heck," she added, shuddering, "no matter how pacifistic you are, threats like those… if _Nymphicus_ had been the one killed, no court in the world would convict anyone."

"So basically," Maya Valerie said, "the only way Satsuma could be the intended recipient of the threats would be if the person hiding them from her didn't know how hardcore she is."

"Which rules out all of her co-workers," Jana added.

"Therefore," Maria said, flicking her bangs, "they must have been directed towards Svavarsson." Armando smiled slightly but said nothing.

"Okay," Jana said, "how does this help us in court?"

Maria frowned. "It doesn't," she said, "it just confirms that Nymphicus is dangerous and probably shouldn't be allowed out in society at large."

"Well," Jana said, fiddling with her riding crop, "if we can prove that the notes were intended for Ragnar Svavarsson, not Kit Glauketas, it would introduce the idea of planted evidence and, therefore, the possibility of a third person. After all," she added, smirking, "this is a _murder_ trial, not a _criminal threat_ trial."

"Except that you can't do that," Armando said, "because all of this is conjecture based off of one conversation with a person only tangentially related to the case."

"Well, there are some other suspicious points… especially the unidentified fingerprints on the notes, and fact that the cyanide container was wiped," Maria said, "so… I still think we'll end up getting a 'not guilty' verdict. However, once Nymphicus is released-"

"You'll have to warn Svavarsson," Maya Valerie said sweetly, a butterfly floating by her head. "By the way, Jana, do you want to sleep over tonight?"

"Shouldn't you have school?" Armando grumbled.

"I'm homeschooled," Maya Valerie replied, smiling at Armando. Jana was sure that Armando would roll his eyes if he could.

"No," Jana said, "maybe tomorrow night."

Maya Valerie frowned. "Copper's visiting starting tomorrow."

"May God have mercy on your soul," Maria said solemnly.

* * *

_April 8, 9:51 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #9_

"Given up on the 'threats' thing, yet?" Nymphicus yawned. Maria didn't even look at him. Jana wondered how court would go - surely the _actual_ results of the handwriting analysis would come up, and how Nymphicus would react to finding out that his attorney's assistant had lied to him in order to get him to say some pretty self-incriminating things, well….

"It will all come down to the fingerprints," Jana informed him.

"I suppose my own fingerprints _would_ be all over those things," Nymphicus said, scratching his chin, "seeing as how I'm not fond of gloves."

"Care to tell us who exactly they were directed towards?" Maria said coldly.

Nymphicus laughed. "Of course not, lady. I'll plead the fifth, thank you."

Jana sighed. "Bertrand Nymphicus, do you at least wish to tell us how you sent the notes?"

"Sent?" Nymphicus said, smirking, "nah. I posted them - although I haven't done that much in the past few weeks - and someone always took them down." He laughed again. "I can only assume my target did - and then proceeded to put on a brave face whenever _they_ were around me." Maria scowled.

"Well," Jana said, "the prosecution won't be able to rely on that particular piece of evidence as long as the partial fingerprints are unidentified." She toyed with her riding crop. "I managed to get Alois to tell me that, as of this morning, there are no results yet."

"At least there's that," Maria said, back to scribbling in her notebook. "Those notes are the most crucial evidence, I think. Without it, both of you don't really have very substantial cases - too much doubt, everything is circumstantial…" she sighed.

"So we just buy time until the fingerprint results are in, I suppose?" Jana said, crossing her arms. "And what do we do if Alois gets the results as he is preparing for trial? What then?"

Maria gave Nymphicus a long look before answering. "Well," she said slowly, "I'm sure we'll figure something out." She turned back to Jana. "We _know_ the real killer is out there, and I don't agree with Satsuma's assumption that the they came from outside."

"That narrows it down to only three people," Jana pointed out.

"Yes, it does," Maria sighed, "and if Glauketas' death was accidental… it could be any one of them."

"Well, as long as we can agree it's not me," Nymphicus said, sneering.

"Stand down," Maria muttered to Jana as soon as she saw her readying her riding crop.

_April 8, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom #9_

The Judge quieted down the noisy crowd with a few swings of her gavel. "Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Bertrand Nymphicus," she said.

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor," Alois said. He looked casual, but Jana could tell he was worried about something. Had the fingerprint results not come in yet?

"The defense is ready as well, your Honor," Jana said. Maria stood beside her, holding her notebook, but her pen was still.

The Judge nodded. "Very well," she said, "Mr. Gavin, your opening statement, please."

Alois cleared his throat. "The defendant was initially arrested due to his suspicious behavior, and investigation afterwards appears to support this arrest. He…" Alois paused, and began playing with his hair. "Your Honor, I believe it would be more clear if I could be allowed to summon the detective in charge of this case and have her relay the facts."

"Alois appears unnerved," Jana noted.

"He's probably worried about the fingerprinting results," Maria said, writing in her notebook again, "perhaps he _did_ get them, and they said something he didn't expect…?"

"I don't see why not," the Judge was saying, "unless, of course, the defense has any-?"

"No, your Honor," Jana said.

"Very well. Mr. Gavin, you may call your first witness."

Alois cleared his throat again. "The prosecution calls Detective Noir to the stand!"

Detective Noir took the stand.

"Witness, name and occupation, please," Alois said.

"Name's Blanche Noir," Detective Noir said, adjusting the brim of her fedora, "occupation: police dick, currently assigned to work directly underneath Alois. Special circumstances."

"Please tell the court the facts of the case," Alois said.

Detective Noir nodded. "As Alois said, the defendant was initially nailed due to his suspicious behavior, which was reported to us shortly after the buttons arrived on the scene. The main points currently putting the defendant behind the eight ball are the fact that it was _his_ plate of rice pumped full of Nevada gas, and the container of said Nevada gas found in his wikiup despite the lack of opportunity for anyone to sneak in and try and get him to take the fall."

"No mention of the notes," Maria said, putting her hand to her mouth.

"I will be sure to bring it up," Jana said.

"Not immediately," Maria advised, "It might be a trap."

"Uh… right," the Judge said, "Ms. von Karma, you may begin your cross-examination."

Jana nodded. "Witness," she said, "could you elaborate on what you mean by the defendant's 'suspicious behavior'?"

Detective Noir glanced at Alois, who shook his head slightly. "I think it'd be better if you give the third to the broad who dropped a dime in the first place," she said, "considering she's supposed to be the next witness."

"Ah," Jana said, crossing her arms, "very well then." She wasn't entirely sure what Detective Noir had just recommended she do, so she would save that question for the next witness. "Were the defendant's fingerprints found on the container of… Nevada gas means potassium cyanide, right?"

"That's right, little dolly," Detective Noir said, "and no, they weren't. We could tell that there had been fingerprints on them at one point, but they were wiped."

"And when do you think the defendant did this?" Jana said. It was a bit of a dumb question, but hopefully the detective would say something stupid.

She didn't. "It doesn't matter," she said instead, "most likely, he wiped his own prints after setting Glauketas up to take the big sleep."

"So he went to the trouble of wiping his prints, and then stored the incriminating evidence in his own desk, where it would be easily found?" Maria said suddenly, "Doesn't that seem odd to you?"

"Not really," Detective Noir said, "considering it wasn't found in his desk _drawer_, but rather in a hollow section of the desk disguised by a drawer with a false bottom." She pointed her fingers like a gun towards the defense bench, then said, "It's a miracle the elephant ears found it. Nymphicus was clearly trying to cheese it."

Maria recoiled. "S-Sorry, Jana," she said, sweating.

"And you warned _me_ about traps," Jana snapped, then pressed forward. "Witness, explain how you knew the plate of rice was Bertrand Nymphicus'."

"Well," Detective Noir said, a little less confidently, "it had his monicker written on it."

"…anything else?" Jana said. That was probably the lamest explanation she'd ever heard.

"Process of elimination," Alois offered, "whenever one of the historians is late to or misses dinner, the others set aside some food for them so that they can have something to eat later. Mr. Nymphicus was the only one who missed dinner that night, and unattended food doesn't last long in that ship."

"I see," Jana said, "however… if it was _his_ plate of food that was poisoned, it would point more towards Bertrand Nymphicus being the intended victim, would it not?"

Alois shook his head, smiling softly. "I believe the answer to that will be made clear if you ask the next witness," he said, "your Honor?"

The Judge nodded. "Ms. von Karma," she said, "do you have any more questions for the current witness?"

Jana frowned. Should she bring up the notes yet? "No, your Honor," she said at length.

"Very well," the Judge said, "Mr. Gavin, you may call your next witness."

"Thank you, your Honor," Alois said, "the prosecution calls Hyla Goemon to the stand."

Goemon took the stand, her scarf swishing in an unknown breeze.

"Witness, name and occupation," Alois said.

"I am Dr. Hyla Goemon, head of the group of naval historians currently running the replica of the _Yamoto_."

"Thank you," Alois said, "now, to begin with, why don't you tell us a little bit about the victim?"

Goemon's head jerked in a quick nod. "Glauketas has worked under me for years," she said, "he was an odd man. Very secretive and not terribly social. He was brilliant, of course," she said quickly, "but when living with him, his most noticeable trait was that he was a bit of a kleptomaniac."

"Is that where all those trinkets in his room came from?" Maria asked.

"I believe so," Goemon said, "he didn't like letting people in his quarters, but I'm sure I saw a few of my missing belongings on his bookshelf when the police were searching his room."

"Ms. von Karma," the Judge said, "your cross-examination, please."

Jana frowned and crossed her arms. "…witness," she said slowly, "does this kleptomania ordinarily extend to food?"

"Yes," Goemon said, "if someone missed dinner, the food we set aside for them would, nine times out of ten, end up being eating by Glauketas instead."

"So this was a reliable trait?" Jana said.

"If you mean reliable enough to kill him with?" Goemon said, tapping her head, "yes."

_Hmm_. Jana glanced at Maria, who was writing in her notebook again. "Witness," she said, turning back towards the stand, "did Bertrand Nymphicus know of this behavior?"

"Of course," Goemon said, "Nymphicus has lived and worked alongside Glauketas for quite some time now. However…" she trailed off with a glance at the prosecution.

"However?" Jana prompted.

"Nymphicus and Glauketas didn't exactly get along, but it was in the same way Nymphicus doesn't get along with anyone," she said, playing with her gloves, "so for the life of me, I can't figure out why Nymphicus would want to kill him specifically."

"That is a good point," Jana said, "does the prosecution have a motive to propose?" Maria glanced at her - surely she was wondering if it was wise to tempt Alois into bringing up the threatening notes instead of doing it themselves, but Jana needed to find out what kind of aces he had up his sleeve, as Uncle Wright would put it.

"…no," Alois said, after a while, "not currently."

Jana raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean to say you believe that the poisoning of Kit Glauketas was accidental, and that the defendant was expecting someone else to eat his plate of rice?"

"That is a possibility," Alois said carefully.

"Of course," Jana said, pointing her riding crop at him, "that does not make any sense. The only people who would eat Bertrand Nymphicus' plate of rice would be Kit Glauketas and Bertrand Nymphicus himself, and as you already admitted, Bertrand Nymphicus has no reason to want Kit Glauketas dead."

"That is true," Alois said impassively as Maria began scribbling faster.

"Therefore," Jana said, slamming her riding crop on her desk, "there is credence to the theory that Bertrand Nymphicus was the intended target and the real killer simply forgot to account for Kit Glauketas' food thievery!"

The gallery broke into discussion. Alois' expression was completely inscrutable. _What is he up to?_ Jana thought, suddenly feeling exposed. Goemon looked at Alois as if asking permission to speak, which Alois denied with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Eventually the Judge was able to quiet down the court.

"Do you have a rebuttal to this, Mr. Gavin?" she asked.

"At the moment, I believe we should move onto the next part of Dr. Goemon's testimony," Alois said coolly.

The Judge looked towards Jana and Maria. "Do you have any objections to this?"

Jana stared at Alois for a while before answering. "No, your Honor," she said. What was going on here? Alois was acting like she missed something… but why hadn't he brought up the threatening notes yet?

"Dr. Goemon," Alois said, leaning forward a bit, "please tell the court about the defendant's suspicious behavior which you reported to the police."

Goemon nodded. "To begin with," she said, "Nymphicus has always had terrible anger issues. He was fond of threatening people," she glanced significantly at Alois, "even if he bore no particular ill-will towards anyone except for Svavarsson… another one of my subordinates. Anyway, the night before Glauketas' death, he declined to eat dinner with us, despite complaining earlier in the day how hungry he was. However, later in the night I did see him head down towards the kitchen area - this was, presumably, when he could have planted the potassium cyanide. The other suspicious thing was the fact that, when he discovered the body, he called the police immediately and did not request an ambulance… almost as though he knew Glauketas was already dead."

"I see," said the Judge, "that is very suspicious."

"Which is why I told the police as soon as they responded," Goemon said.

The Judge nodded. "More people should think like you," she said, "ahem. Ms. von Karma, your cross-examination?"

"Did the defendant give a reason for skipping out on dinner?" Jana said, "for instance, just because he was hungry earlier did not necessarily mean he was hungry then."

"He said he didn't wish to be around Svavarsson," Goemon said.

"Hmm," Jana said, "when you saw him head down toward the kitchens later in the day, did you actually see him enter the kitchen area?"

"No," Goemon said.

"Was he carrying any sort of container?" said Jana.

"No," Goemon said, "but I know that the container was recovered in his room, which is on the same deck as the kitchen."

"Speaking of recovering the container," Maria said, "did anyone else know about his 'trick desk'?"

"Trick desk?" Goemon said, her eyes widening, "I… am afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

Jana nodded absently. "When he called the police, did he refer to Kit Glauketas' death as a murder or a suicide?"

"I believe he called it an accident," Goemon said.

"And just to confirm," Jana continued, "was Bertrand Nymphicus the first one to discover the body?"

"As far as I am aware," Goemon said, "also, there wasn't much opportunity for anyone else to find it first. Blackquill had been on 'shore leave' for the past few weeks - the fact that she joined us for dinner that night was pure coincidence - and Svavarsson left with Blackquill shortly after dinner that night."

Jana clenched her fingers. There wasn't anything particularly conclusive in this testimony one way or the other, so why had Alois been so insistent on calling her up when he could have been blowing a hole in Jana's "no motive" defense? She growled in frustration. The cross-examination had ground to a halt. What was he _waiting_ for?

"Excuse me, your Honor, ma'am!" The court's attention turned to a cop - what was his name again? Johnson? - who had suddenly come running in, carrying a manilla folder.

"Excuse me, officer, but there is a trial going on right now," the Judge said stiffly, "bailiff, please-"

"Hold it, your Honor!" Alois said, then added, "please."

"What is this, Mr. Gavin?" the Judge asked. Alois looked at Johnson.

"The fingerprint results of the notes, sir!" Johnson said.

"So they hadn't been completed yet," Maria murmured.

"Well, hand it here," Alois said, reaching for the manilla envelope.

"Yes, sir!"

"What? What notes?" the Judge asked.

"There were some threatening notes in the defendant's handwriting found in the victim's room," Alois said casually, "and they had the defendant's fingerprints all over them."

"I… I see!" said the Judge, "Mr. Gavin! Why didn't you bring this to the court's attention earlier?"

"I'm sorry, your Honor," Alois said, undoing the clasp on the envelope, "but in addition to the defendant's fingerprints there were also some unidentified partial prints. We assumed they belonged to the victim, but we decided to make sure before revealing this in court."

"Well?" Jana said, banging the bench with her riding crop, "do the partials belong to Kit Glauketas?"

"Patience, little sister," Alois said, his eyes flicking over the forensics report, "the partial prints belong to… Ragnar Svavarsson?" His eyes went wide. "Was?"

"What?" both Jana and Maria said.

"What?" both Goemon and the Judge said.

The gallery burst into discussion again, most of the spectators probably also saying "What?"

"W-Why would Herr Svavarsson's fingerprints be on the notes?" Alois said, sweating.

"Perhaps you should call him as a witness and find out?" Jana said. She didn't like the implications of this.

"I… your Honor," Alois said, "Mr. Svavarsson is not currently prepared as a witness. I would like to have him testify as to how his fingerprints ended up on the decisive evidence, but… we will need either an extensive recess or for court to be adjourned until tomorrow."

"Bailiff, find out if this Ragnar Svavarsson is in the gallery," the Judge ordered. Ten minutes of whispery waiting later, the bailiff reported that he wasn't. "Mr. Gavin," the Judge said, nodding, "I expect Mr. Svavarsson to testify as to his involvement tomorrow."

"Of course, your Honor," Alois said.

"Very well. This court is adjourned."

* * *

**Before you ask, no, I do not speak German. Sith was the one who spoke German, but he's currently in Finland. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here, so if I get something wrong, please don't judge me too harshly. I'll change it. Probably.**

**And yes, the existence of QLF _is _a reference to Turnabout Blue Earth, but they do become important later.**

**Final note: I didn't really know how to describe it, and I have yet to upload pictures on tumblr, but Dr. Goemon looks like a Greninja gajinka. Just imagine that.**


	3. Turnabout at Sea, Part II

**A/N: The weird update schedule continues... as it stands, I only have one more document after this one currently ready to upload. I've been working hard, but I burned one of my hands making ramen, so right now I can only type with one hand. Fortunately, it's my right hand (I am right-handed).**

* * *

_April 8, 1:48 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

"That was a lucky break," Maya Valerie said as soon as Jana had finished recounting the events of the earlier trial to her, "so does this mean that Svavarsson is the real killer?"

"…I hope not," Jana said. He was too handsome to be a murderer. "Either way, it seems as though the only way to remove suspicion against Bertrand Nymphicus is to accuse someone else."

"Which would involve accusing your own client of something else too, huh," Maya Valerie said, putting her fist to her chin.

"Well, yes," Jana said, "but he did not hire me to prove him guiltless of sending various threats."

"True," Maya Valerie said, tilting her head as a butterfly started flying around her. Jana had never really questioned where they came from, but it occurred to her now that they might not be the same three butterflies every time. "So I guess this means that Maria was right about Svavarsson receiving the threats."

"Also true," Jana said, "which means it would make sense that his fingerprints would be on the notes."

"Which means he might not be the real killer?"

Jana nodded vaguely. No one else would have a motive for pinning the crime on Nymphicus, though… not that _anyone_ had an apparent motive for killing Glauketas. Perhaps she had been right when she proposed that the intended victim was someone different. But who? Claiming that Nymphicus was the target was more of a sympathy ploy than an actual theory.

"Oh, by the way, Jana," Wright said suddenly, walking into the office as there was a clattering noise from elsewhere in the building, "I picked Copper up from the train station while you were in court."

"…oh," Jana said.

"Don't worry," Maya Valerie said sweetly, "he's not fond of lawyers and lawyering, so he prefers to stay out of the office area." Jana rolled her eyes. Copper's mother was a prosecutor, how could he _not_ be fond of lawyers and lawyering?

"I was planning on sleeping over tonight," Jana said, frowning.

"Valerie, it'd be nice if you'd run these things by me first," Wright said sarcastically. Maya Valerie smiled innocently.

"I don't know what you were expecting, Mr. Wright," Watson spoke up suddenly from her father's desk, which she was rooting through.

Wright sighed. "Don't you three have something to do?"

Watson rolled her eyes and went back to searching Justice's desk. Maya Valerie and Jana stared at Wright.

"Not really," Maya Valerie said.

"You said I was not supposed to go out to investigate until Maria Fey-Armando returned," Jana said.

"Oh, right," Wright said, "yeah, the harbor is pretty far away for you to go by yourself." He turned towards Justice's desk. "Wat, what are you looking for?"

"Um…" Watson said, looking up, "just… some things."

"Shouldn't you ask your father to find them for you instead of rifling through his belongings?" Wright asked, raising an eyebrow. Watson shrugged nervously.

Much to Watson's presumed relief and everyone else's dismay, a newcomer walked into the office area. They had tan skin, straight black hair, blue eyes, and were wearing a full Gramarye stage outfit, which was green and had a Texan flare in the form of a red handkerchief around their neck and blindingly white cowboy boots. Also, no one knew their gender. Quite frankly, everyone was afraid to ask.

"Howdy, ugly," Copper (the androgynous newcomer, in case it wasn't clear) said.

"Was that directed towards me?" Jana said stiffly.

"'Course it was," Copper said, tipping their top hat, "granted, it could apply to anyone in the room, but I hadn't said 'hi' to you yet, had I?"

"You little-!" Jana shouted, swinging her riding crop at them. It vanished in a puff of brightly-colored smoke and streamers and reappeared in Copper's hand.

"Rude," they said, putting Jana's riding crop in their hat.

"Give that back! I need that!" Jana screeched, lunging at Copper. She was interrupted when Watson jumped behind her, grabbed her, and dead-lifted her into the air. How Watson managed to be tall enough to leave Jana kicking at Copper with feet that dangled a foot and a half in the air, considering both of her parents were relatively short, Jana had no idea. All she knew was that she hated it when Watson did this.

"Stop fighting!" Watson yelled, "knock it off!"

"Put me down!" Jana protested.

"Ha ha, you're too short to reach me," Copper said, sticking out their tongue.

"I am _as tall as you are_!" Jana shouted.

"Seriously, give Jana back her riding crop, Copper," Wright said.

"Please?" Maya Valerie added.

"…alrighty then, old man," Copper said, frowning at Wright. They produced her riding crop out of thin air and handed it back once Watson had put her down. She immediately hit them with it.

"Come on, Maya Valerie," Jana growled as Copper started making a fuss again (and Wright ordered Copper back into the part of the house where they could only bother Misty and Diego), "we have an investigation to attend to."

"Wait a minute, Mr. Wright said you weren't supposed to go out by yourself," Watson said, running to stand in front of the door, "and also that Valerie isn't supposed to help you with your cases."

"B-But it's only investigation!" Maya Valerie protested, tearing up exaggeratedly, "why, Daddy even lets me investigate with _him_ sometimes! Why not Jana?"

"…w-well, I guess you have a point," Watson said, sweating lightly, "but you still can't just-"

"You may come with us," Jana offered.

Watson looked away, scowling. "I was doing something, you know."

"What, ransacking Apollo Justice's desk?" Jana said, then added, "you would only need to accompany us until Maria Fey-Armando arrived."

"Er…" she played with the hem of her running shorts, "Mr. Wright, is that really okay?"

"Huh?" Wright said, "well… yes, I suppose so. If Maria comes back here, I'll just tell her they already headed off with you."

Watson sighed deeply. "_Fine_," she said, grabbing the doorknob. "Jana, Valerie, you two had better not give me trouble or-"

"What are you so worried about, Watson Justice?" Jana said, smirking and toying with her riding crop.

"We'll be good," Maya Valerie said sweetly.

* * *

_April 8, 2:33 PM, Los Angeles Harbor_

Watson had already introduced herself as Jana and Maya Valerie's babysitter twice and both times had had to suffer the riding crop, not that she seemed to think it hurt all that much. Fortunately, these antics had not prevented their access to the crime scene. There were significantly less cops there than there were the day before, and Detective Noir was nowhere to be seen, although Alois was there, apparently continuing the investigation on his own.

"Ach, kleine Schwester," Alois said, noticing the WAA group, "and… Wat and Valerie. Wie geht es euch?"

"…I don't speak your crazy moon language," Maya Valerie said sweetly.

"It's German," Alois said, pouting, "besides, I thought Onkel Wright banned you from helping Jana with her cases?"

"Apparently that ban only applies to the actual _court_ part," Watson sighed, "Mr. Wright gave the go-ahead for investigations."

"Speaking of investigations, Alois," Jana said, pointing her riding crop at him, "has any progress been made?"

Alois looked at her dubiously for a moment then sighed. "Nien," he said, "in fact, I'd say we've made negative progress. Fräu Detektivin Noir is still aiding in the search for Herr Svavarsson."

"Ragnar Svavarsson has run off?!" Jana said, stunned. Alois nodded.

"Maybe he had a good reason to?" Maya Valerie said.

"Perhaps," Alois said, playing with his hair, "although unless he has a megagut excuse, he… is starting to look more and more suspicious."

"…'megagut'?" Watson said, fiddling with the lapel of her lab coat and looking up slightly.

"'Very good'," Jana explained.

"Ah."

"If he's starting to look more and more suspicious," Maya Valerie said, adopting her 'thinking' pose, "at what point do you drop suspicions against Nymphicus and pursue a case against Svavarsson instead?"

"Probably never," Alois said, shoulders shaking from a bit of laughter, "Das böse Gewissen verrät sich selbst. While I am starting to suspect that Svavarsson is involved with the crime, Nymphicus is still the prime suspect. Those notes were definitely written by him."

"Bellende Hunde beißen nicht," Jana countered, "threats do not a murderer make."

"Would it kill you two to speak English?" Watson interrupted. Jana looked away, a bit embarrassed. On one hand, she found Denglisch irritating too, but on the other hand, it was a personal policy of hers to apologize as little as possible.

"I want to see the victim's room," Maya Valerie piped up.

"I don't see why not," Alois said, looking around the crime scene again, "I'll go with you." They headed to Glauketas' quarters.

"There isn't much here," Watson pointed out after a few minutes of "reinvestigating", which ended up mostly consisting of of Maya Valerie making fun of Glauketas' personal effects. Alois shrugged.

"This is going nowhere," Jana sighed, "Alois, have you searched Ragnar Svavarsson's quarters yet?"

"Nein," Alois said, "we're still waiting on a warrant." _Who needs warrants anyway?_ Jana thought, irritated. Uncle Kristoph sure didn't think they were necessary.

At that moment, that cop Johnson arrived with Maria in tow. "Prosecutor Alice, sir!"

"For the last time," Alois groaned, "my name is not Alice. I am a _man_!"

"Oh, please-" Jana began her sarcastic comment, but Watson kicked her.

"Anyway, sir," Johnson said, "the search warrant for Svavarsson's quarters went through!"

"Excellent," Jana said.

"Also!" Johnson continued, "I found this suspicious woman loitering around the boarding ramp!" Behind him, Maria sighed deeply.

"T-That's not a suspicious woman," Alois said, "that's the defense attorney's assistant."

"Apparently I needed a badge in order to get in on my own," Maria growled.

"Is that why defense attorneys pin their badges to their clothes?" Maya Valerie said, "so that they don't have to actually_ present_ it in order to get in?"

"I… don't think it usually works that way," Watson said, "anyway, Maria, you can take over babysitting for me. I need to go." She ignored Jana hitting her with her riding crop again.

"Well then," Alois said as Watson jogged off, "shall we investigate Herr Svavarsson's quarters?" They went to the next room over, which was being unlocked with a key on loan from Goemon.

"I take it that that's Satsuma's room?" Maya Valerie said, pointing at the only inhabited room on this deck that they hadn't gone into.

"Ja," Alois said. Maria looked at it suspiciously, hand over her mouth. _I wonder what she is thinking about_.

Svavarsson's quarters didn't entirely look like they belonged on a Japanese battleship. They were lushly decorated in furs, mostly, and was that a deer head on the wall? Wait, no, that was a reindeer. _Did he kill that animal himself?!_ Jana thought, stunned. It was a lot bigger than she thought it would be. There were also numerous wood carvings scattered around, although Jana didn't see any carving equipment, so Svavarsson may have just acquired them somewhere instead of making them himself.

"Impressive," Maya Valerie commented. They began their search - most of the officers assigned to the case were either searching for Svavarsson or rechecking the other rooms, so it was just the WAA party plus Alois, who wasn't keeping a very close eye on them. Maya Valerie filled Maria in on what little had happened while she was out.

"So, Alois," Maria said, "care to elaborate on how you think Svavarsson is connected to the crime?"

"I don't know yet," Alois replied, "nor do I have any evidence. But I think we can rule out them being accomplices," he added.

"Perhaps Svavarsson is the real killer?" Maya Valerie said sweetly.

"Nein," Alois said, frowning, "I'm certain Herr Nymphicus was the one who planted the poison. However, I am starting to think that Jana's theory about Herr Glauketas being an unintentional victim theory was correct."

"Who do you propose was the actual target, then?" Maria said.

"Herr Svavarsson, who else?" Alois said, "which would mean that the notes in Herr Glauketas' quarters were planted… most likely by Herr Svavarsson."

"Why would he do that?" Jana said.

"Hm," Alois said, playing with his hair, "this is all conjecture, of course, but let's suppose that Herr Svavarsson knew somehow about Herr Nymphicus' plot to poison him - possibly because he was the actual receiver of the notes. Herr Svavarsson could have, in his attempt to dodge Herr Nymphicus' attempt on his life, set it up so that Herr Glauketas was the one who ate the rice instead of him."

"On accident?" Maria said.

"Ja," Alois said, "although if he knew that the rice was poisoned and did nothing to prevent Herr Glauketas from eating it, he would be almost as schuldig as Herr Nymphicus."

"English, please," Maya Valerie said sweetly.

"Entschuldigung, guilty," Alois said, grinning, "'schuldig' means 'guilty'."

"How would he have had the opportunity to dodge the poisoning in the first place?" Maria said, raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps he was the one who set aside Herr Nymphicus' rice," Alois said, "I suppose I'll need to ask Fräu Doktor Goemon a few more questions about dinner that night. Anyway, I suppose that after that, Herr Svavarsson could have found the opportunity somehow to plant the threatening notes in Herr Glauketas' quarters, which would also make him guilty of tampering the evidence."

"If he was technically _not_ guilty of poisoning Kit Glauketas, why bother planting anything?" Jana protested, "the existing evidence would surely point to Bertrand Nymphicus."

"He may have been covering up whatever he did to get Herr Glauketas to eat the poisoned rice in his stead," Alois said, "besides, he may have also felt that there wasn't enough existing evidence to properly indict Herr Nymphicus. Don't you ever read the old case files at your firm?"

"…no," Jana said, playing with her riding crop.

"He's talking about the Engarde trial," Maria explained.

"Ask Onkel Wright about it sometime," Alois added. Jana frowned.

"Is that what you're looking for, then?" Maya Valerie said, "evidence that proves that your theory about Svavarsson's involvement is correct?"

"Leichter gesagt als getan," Alois said, sighing, "but ja, that's what I'm looking for, at least. I suppose you three will end up accusing him as soon as you can."

"Oh, never without evidence," Maria said, smirking sardonically.

"Well, would this work?" Maya Valerie said innocently, holding up a piece of paper.

"Let me see that," Jana said, grabbing it.

"Hands off the evidence!" Alois protested.

"Don't worry," Maya Valerie assured him, "I brought my own gloves." And of course Jana was, as always, wearing hers.

Jana turned over the paper and immediately grimaced. "What does it say?" Maria asked.

"I am not going to read this out loud," Jana said quietly, "it is another one of those threatening notes."

"I'll send this to the lab for confirmation," Alois said, snatching it from Jana. He stuck his head out into the hallway. "Forensik!"

"I think that makes it obvious that Svavarsson planted the notes," Maya Valerie said.

Jana nodded. She still thought Svavarsson was too handsome to be a murderer. She glanced at Maria, who was obviously troubled. "Thoughts, Maria Fey-Armando?"

"I…" Maria said, holding her hand away from her mouth, "there's something bugging me about the notes, but I'm not sure what."

"What is there to bother you?" Jana said, "You were right about Ragnar Svavarsson being the real recipient."

"Am I?" Maria said, "I'm not so sure. Remember how we ruled out Satsuma?"

"Because she didn't know about them?" Maya Valerie said.

"Which meant that someone would have been hiding them from her, which doesn't make sense because she would have been more than capable of handling Nymphicus on her own," Maria said. She gestured towards a longsword hanging on the wall. "I'm wondering if Svavarsson knows how to use this thing?"

"I believe he does," Alois said, walking back towards them, "he mentioned something like that during our initial interrogation."

"Something like that?" Jana said.

Alois nodded, playing with his hair. "I believe we asked him about his relationship with Herr Nymphicus, because Herr Nymphicus had mentioned during our interrogation of _him_ how much he hated Herr Svavarsson. Herr Svavarsson told us that Herr Nymphicus hated him, and the feeling was mutual, but he wasn't afraid of Herr Nymphicus because if Herr Nymphicus tried anything, Herr Svavarsson could easily fight him off. Something like that."

"I thought so," Maria said, "so I'm wondering… if we go with Jana's theory that Nymphicus was the target of the threats, and assume that Svavarsson was the real killer… it doesn't make sense. Why try to _poison_ Nymphicus? Why not wait until he tried something and fight him off then, since he was capable of it?"

"Exactly," Alois said, grinning, "Herr Nymphicus is the only one who would actually make sense as the killer."

"But he isn't," Maria insisted.

"Oder was?" Alois said, "Maria, I know how much you'd like to believe in your client… but are you aware that Jana studied under Onkel Kristoph, not Onkel Wright? She couldn't care less about her clients, just her verdict."

"I know," Maria said, glancing at Jana, who rolled her eyes, "but despite what Nymphicus has done, I know for a fact that he didn't kill anybody."

"Were those his exact words?" Alois said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yes, they were," Jana said.

"Valerie, back me up here: that wording is vague enough to fool the Magatama, ist es nicht?" Alois said.

"Well… maybe," Maya Valerie said, looking down, "I guess if he meant 'anybody _important_' when he said 'anybody', and considered Glauketas to not be anybody important…"

"I've heard that's how Herr Engarde tricked Onkel Wright a long time ago," Alois said, grinning, "that was the case that broke his win record, did you know that, Jana?"

"This will not be the case that breaks mine," Jana said stubbornly.

"It's only your third case," Alois pointed out.

"Exactly!" Jana snapped, "I will not bear the humiliation of losing so early in my career! Not like you!"

Alois rolled his eyes. "I specifically asked Onkel Miles to assign me to prosecute Ace," he said, "I was expecting to lose. The only thing I regret about that trial was your horrible attitude afterwards!"

"That's enough," Maria said, stepping in between them, "save the arguing for court, you two."

"Hmph," Jana said, turning away.

"Puhh," Alois said, also turning away.

"I'm glad I get along with _my_ siblings," Maya Valerie said cheerfully.

"You should go now," Alois said after a tense moment of silence, "I'll have Forensik look over this room in more detail in a bit, and I can't have you three getting in the way."

"Oh, come on-" Jana started, but Alois put his hand up.

"The only thing _we_ have to do now is to wait for Fräu Detektivin Noir to find Herr Svavarsson," he said, "and then, whatever is going on here… we'll find out in court morgen… tomorrow," he added, catching Maria and Maya Valerie's confused looks. "In the meantime, you might as well go harass your client some more. Maybe corner him into giving you a more definitive answer as to his guilt," he snickered.

"Well, maybe we'll do just that," Maria huffed, "Jana, Valerie, come on." She turned on her heel and marched out the door. Maya Valerie looked at Jana, shrugged, and followed her out.

"I still say that the murder method does not make any sense," Jana said to Alois once they were alone.

"Was meinst du?" Alois said.

"If Bertrand Nymphicus were to kill someone…" Jana said, crossing her arms, "I would expect it to be more violent than a _poisoning_. Something here does not add up."

Alois shrugged. "Perhaps he realized that he would get caught and tried to minimize the chances of that," he said, playing with his hair, "so he used a method more difficult to track down. And that," he added, smirking, "is why Herr Svavarsson would have planted the notes, ja? It's just like what Fräu Andrews did back, was, 36 years ago?"

Jana frowned. There was one possible line of defense gone. At least it hadn't happened in court.

"Do you still maintain your client's innocence?" Alois said.

"No one is truly innocent," Jana replied, "but I do maintain that my client is not guilty of the murder of Kit Glauketas."

"On the grounds that he hired you to prove that," Alois finished for her, "well, viel Glück in court tomorrow."

"Do not worry about me, worry about yourself," Jana said, sneering, "tomorrow I _will_ have the evidence needed to establish reasonable doubt."

"As long as that evidence didn't come from Onkel Kristoph, that's fine," Alois said, smiling, "because as long as Maria's here, the truth will come out whether you want it to or not." Alois walked out. Jana took another cursory glance around Svavarsson's quarters and also left.

She found Maria and Maya Valerie standing by Satsuma's door. Maya Valerie had fingerprinting powder out. "What are you two doing?" Jana asked, heading over.

"Oh, there you are," Maria said, "Jana, take a look at this. I _knew_ something was wrong…" She was gesturing towards the door. The fingerprinting powder had stuck to it, but it hadn't just revealed a bunch of fingerprints from whoever had happened to touch the door since the last time anyone had given it a wipedown. What Maria was probably trying to point out were the areas where the powder had stuck in large rectangular shapes - definitely not a fingerprint.

"What is this?" Jana asked.

"Adhesive," Maya Valerie replied gleefully.

"Most likely from tape," Maria said, hand to her mouth, thoughtful, "it's not concrete proof, but… this means something."

"And what is this something?" Jana asked, playing with her riding crop.

"Remember how Nymphicus said that he posted the notes?" Maria said, "well… where did you think he posted them?"

"? Wouldn't he have posted them on some sort of communal bulletin board?" Maya Valerie said.

"That is what I assumed also," Jana said.

"What if he taped them to a door?" Maria said, pointing at the fingerprint-powder-rectangles.

"…check Ragnar Svavarsson's door," Jana said, realizing Maria's implication.

"Where did you _get_ that, anyway?" Maria asked Maya Valerie as she started dusting Svavarsson's door.

"I found it hidden in Daddy's office," Maya Valerie said sweetly.

"Does he still do that?" Maria said, "How has no one reported him?"

"I am fairly certain that the only person who actually mistook the fingerprint powder for cocaine was Apollo Justice," Jana said.

"I don't think there's any adhesive on Svavarsson's door," Maya Valerie said finally.

"Which means," Maria said, holding her hand up to her mouth again, "that I was wrong. The true recipient of the notes…"

* * *

_April 8, 6:00 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

Work was over for the day. The only people in the Agency right now were the Wrights (Edgeworth included, Miles excluded) and Jana. And Copper, unfortunately. At the moment, Edgeworth was cooking dinner, Wright was reading the newspaper (specifically, the comics section), Misty was talking to Diego about the Kurain Channeling Technique again, Copper was practicing some sort of magic trick that involved Wright's wallet, and Maya Valerie and Jana were hiding out in Maya Valerie's pink-walled, frilly room - the one which had previously belonged to Trucy, and before that, Maya Fey (although back then it had technically been a guest bedroom).

"…in short, I believe the case tomorrow is 'in the bag', as you Americans say," Jana said.

"You're American," Maya Valerie pointed out.

"A-Anyway," Jana said, blushing, "so, what is Uncle Miles making for dinner?"

"Good question," Maya Valerie said as another butterfly seemed to appear out of nowhere, "the last time I went into the kitchen, he was chopping something up and complaining that Daddy forgot to get something at the store… again… but then I think he sent Misty down to pick whatever Daddy had forgotten up…?"

"Ah," Jana said, "and how long ago was that?"

"…half an hour ago?" Maya Valerie said, putting her fist to her chin, "when I went to go to the bathroom." Jana nodded. That was approximately half an hour ago… which meant that dinner would probably be ready soon. Which was good, since the trial had gone right through lunch.

"Hey, ya two-faced rattlesnakes," Copper said, walking into the room, "supper's ready."

"Thank you," Maya Valerie said sweetly, "now get out of my room." Copper shrugged and left. "Well… let's go eat."

Dinner that night turned out to be sausage, potatoes and dumplings. _Fantastic_, Jana thought. The Wrights always seemed to eat German food while Jana was over, at least, so Jana wasn't entirely sure if they were accommodating her or if it was just Edgeworth's von Karma upbringing, since as far as she could tell he was always the one cooking. Could Wright even cook? Was that something he was capable of?

"So, Jana," Edgeworth said once everyone had actually started eating, "Alois told me that the case you two are working on is getting rather complicated."

"…yes," Jana said, "although it is a pity that the defendant was not, in fact, the victim."

"Going that badly, huh?" Wright said, grinning foolishly.

"No," Jana snapped, "I have this completely under control."

"The defendant is a terrible person who must burn for his sins," Maya Valerie said sweetly. Both Wright and Edgeworth frowned and glanced at each other.

"What'd he do?" Misty asked.

"I am not at liberty to say," Jana said.

"He's a jerk," Maya Valerie explained.

"Like Copper?" Diego muttered.

"Diego, be nice," Wright said.

"Yeah, listen to your old man," Copper said, sticking their tongue out at Diego.

"Stop calling me 'old man'," Wright sighed.

"Whatever you say, old man," Copper replied. Misty put her head in her hands.

"Maybe we should change the subject," Diego said, glancing away from Copper.

"I agree," said Edgeworth, "Wright. How is your case going?"

"…fine," Wright said, frowning, "although I thought you told Blackquill to stop doing that 'iaijutsu' thing in court."

"I did," Edgeworth sighed, "Looks like I'll have to have a talk with him again."

"Don't tell him I was the one who told on him," Wright said quickly.

"Hey, Daddy, can I go up to Kurain tomorrow?" Misty asked suddenly.

"Has anyone actually invited you this time, or do you intend to show up unannounced again?" Edgeworth said.

Misty poked at her potato with her fork. "Of course I was invited," she said stubbornly, "you can ask Mairwen if you don't believe me."

"Maybe you should this time," Maya Valerie said pleasantly.

There was a short pause. "Misty, put your cellphone down when you're at the dinner table," Wright said. Misty cringed - she had been hiding her phone under the table.

"I bet she's texting Mairwen," Diego offered, laughing.

"N-No I'm not," Misty protested. Wright raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I am," she admitted, "but there's nothing suspicious about that!"

"Not in and of itself, no," Wright said, clearly amused, "but you're still at the dinner table. Besides," he added as Misty shoved her phone back into her pocket, "why don't you actually _ask_ Mairwen beforehand once in a while, as opposed to just telling her to say that she invited you?"

"You can't prove anything," Misty responded promptly.

"Misty, you do this _all the time_," Diego grumbled, "besides, if we just looked at your phone…"

"There are no incriminating texts on my phone!" Misty protested.

"Yeah, 'cuz you deleted them already," Copper said, tipping their hat.

"Copper, hats off at the dinner table," Edgeworth said at the same time Maya Valerie said, "Stay out of this, Copper!"

"This is your fault, Edgeworth," Wright said.

"It's clearly yours," Edgeworth replied.

"So is that a yes or not?" Misty asked.

"I don't see why not," Wright said, "except I expect you to pay for your own train tickets tomorrow."

"What!? Hey!" Misty said, almost dropping her fork, "…Valerie, can I borrow eighteen bucks?"

"I can give you nine," Maya Valerie said, "in return for a favor that I'll decide later."

"…nine bucks will only take me one way," Misty said.

"Maybe you should just stay in Kurain if you love it so much," Diego suggested.

"Diego! Be nice!" Wright said. Diego shrugged.

"Well… I guess I could borrow the other nine from Aunt Maya," Misty said, biting her nail, "but what do you want from me, Valerie?"

"She just said that she will decide later," Jana spoke up.

"That sounds worrisome," Edgeworth commented.

"Don't do it, Misty," Diego said, "Valerie is evil."

"Diego…" Wright said warningly.

"What?" Diego said, crossing his arms, "it's true!"

"I'll back that idiot up on this, even," Copper said, their little hair spikes (usually hidden by their hat) bouncing perkily.

"Shut up, I don't want you backing me up," Diego said sourly.

"I'm, I'm not evil," Maya Valerie said, tearing up.

Wright sighed. "Diego, now look what you've done!"

"I'm a victim in all this!" Diego said, slamming his hands on the table.

"Is it too much to ask for a nice, peaceful meal around here?" Edgeworth sighed.

"You knew what it was like you married me," Wright retorted.

"…I've made worse decisions," Edgeworth said, shrugging.

"So, I'll need that money by tomorrow morning," Misty said, eyeing Maya Valerie warily.

"Of course," Maya Valerie said, smiling warmly, then leaned over to Jana and whispered, "Can I borrow nine dollars in cash?"

"That favor had better also benefit me," Jana whispered back, slipping a ten-dollar bill out of her pocket and into Maya Valerie's hand. Maya Valerie smiled warmly at her, too.

"So… Misty'll be at hick mountain, Jana will be off investigatin' and I assume Valerie will be with her, the old man will be investigatin' his own thing, and gramps here will be workin' with that bunch of weirdos he calls prosecutors," Copper said, counting on their fingers, "which means… I'll be alone here with Diego?"

"Ughhhh," Diego said, slumping over onto the table.

"Stop calling everyone 'gramps'," Edgeworth said.

"I intend to finish this case in court tomorrow," Jana said haughtily.

"How _dare_ you call Kurain Village 'hick mountain'!" Misty yelled.

Wright sighed. "Copper, you _know_ I try to keep at least one adult in the office at all times."

"What about that time you left us alone with Wat?" Maya Valerie said.

"Um, Wat's an adult," Wright said, putting his hand behind his head, "isn't she?"

"She's 20," Edgeworth said, taking a sip of his drink.

"I keep forgetting that," Misty said, putting her finger to her chin.

"She does look awfully young for her age," Wright said.

"I think it's mostly the fact that she doesn't have her badge yet," Maya Valerie said, "I'm sure that by the time I'm as old as she is, I'll have _my_ badge."

Everyone else (except Jana) groaned.

"Don't we have enough lawyers in this family?" Diego said, laying his head on the table. "I mean, Dad's a defense attorney… Dad's chief prosecutor… Trucy's a prosecutor… Miles is a finance attorney…"

"There's nothing wrong with being a lawyer," Wright said defensively, "it's just that… Valerie, can't you find something a little more… harmless to do with your life?"

"H-Harmless?" Maya Valerie said, tearing up again.

"Ack! I - I didn't mean-" Wright started.

"If you become a defense attorney, then the streets of Los Angeles will be filled with criminals," Edgeworth said bluntly.

"That's really mean, Daddy," Maya Valerie said, large tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Edgeworth!" Wright said, clearly offended, "Really! Making Valerie cry…!"

"She's faking," Edgeworth said at the same time Diego, Copper, and Misty did.

"You guys are _awful_," Maya Valerie sniffled, "Isn't that right, Jana?"

"Of course it is," Jana said, placing her riding crop on the table where everyone could see it. Edgeworth rolled his eyes.

"Of course it is," a cold voice said, and Dahlia materialized on the scene, "Really, you two, not letting your own daughter do what she wants with her life…"

"I don't think any of us want life advice from you," Wright said, not even looking at the resident ghost.

"True," Dahlia said, "considering I'm dead. And it's your fault."

"Give it a rest," Edgeworth grumbled, "you were executed by a court of law. If Wright had anything to do with it, it was only hampering the trial with his idiocy."

"Come on," Wright protested weakly, "that was decades ago."

"It never stops being ridiculous," Edgeworth replied.

"Yeah, have you seen that sweater?" Misty snickered, "I feel bad for laughing, but…"

"Will I never live that down?" Wright sighed.

"No," everyone else answered.

"Although I wish Mommy could have knitted us sweaters like that," Misty added sadly, "they may look dumb, but they _were_ really well-made."

"I think I still have the ones she made you and Miles when you were really little somewhere," Wright mumbled.

"They're ugly too," Dahlia said, flipping her hair.

"What? The children or the sweaters?" Copper said.

"Both," Dahlia replied.

Jana frowned. "Iris Wright was your twin sister. If her children were ugly, that would imply that she herself was ugly, which would imply that _you_ are ugly."

"The ugly genes came from Phoenix," Dahlia said, sneering. Wright laid his head on the table, sighing.

"Wow," Misty said, "okay, forget I said anything."

"But even if she wasn't ugly, Iris was still worthless and I'm glad she's gone," Dahlia continued, flipping her hair.

"Can we not talk about this?" Wright asked.

"It's not like you can do anything to stop me," Dahlia replied, then continued, "I mean, it's no wonder you went and married Edgeworth as soon as Iris died in absentia."

"Iris died _twelve_ years ago!" Wright protested, "It just took me seven years to pick up the pieces and move on - I wasn't waiting for her to be _legally_ declared dead - if I thought there was even the smallest possibility that she was still alive, I'd still be looking for her!"

"Wright, just ignore her," Edgeworth said, putting a hand on Wright's shoulder.

"…may I be excused?" Misty asked, looking nervously between Dahlia and her father.

"Yes," Edgeworth said, "don't forget to put your dishes in the dishwasher."

"…we should go, too," Maya Valerie whispered to Jana as Misty got up - so did Copper and Diego. Dahlia and Wright had started arguing in earnest. Jana nodded.

* * *

_9:30 PM_

"Lights out, girls," Edgeworth said, poking his head into Maya Valerie's room, where Maya Valerie and Jana were both in their pajamas, and Maya Valerie was in fact already in bed, while Jana was on a somewhat beat-up old couch that smelled like coffee.

"Of course, Daddy," Maya Valerie said innocently. Edgeworth flicked the lightswitch and left.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Jana said, pulling a flashlight out from behind the couch, "Mama says that I can get a whip once I get my driver's license, and Papa says that a motorcycle license is _basically_ the same thing."

"Neat," Maya Valerie said, "say, Jana, we should tell scary stories."

Jana raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Maya Valerie said, rolling over and dangling her head off the bed so that she was looking at Jana upside-down, "I mean, we usually do that, right?"

"I suppose."

"But you never have any good ones," Maya Valerie said, frowning.

"Then you ought to go first," Jana said, pointing at Maya Valerie.

"Hm…" Maya Valerie said, "well, okay. I guess I'll start with…" she sat up, and Jana tossed her the flashlight, which Maya Valerie held under her chin. "I believe it was 33 years ago," she said in a spooky voice, "when Metis Cykes was brutally-"

"Must you always do your father's old cases?" Jana interrupted, frowning.

"What? What's the problem?"

"The Phantom isn't really that scary," Jana said dismissively.

"Y-Yes he is," Maya Valerie said, theatrically tearing up again, "of course he is. Don't you know he was suspected to be involved with my mother's death?"

Jana rolled her eyes. She knew full well that Maya Valerie didn't buy into anyone else's theories of what had happened to Iris. In fact, she had a few theories of her own: namely, that Iris' disappearance was completely voluntary, and that she may even be still alive. Maya Valerie considered that Iris had run away because she was scared that her twin children would be like her and Dahlia (…which she did have a point there) although how exactly her father was involved seemed to change depending on how charitable she felt towards him at the moment. Sometimes she thought Wright had actively helped Iris vanish and may even know where she was currently, while other times she thought that Wright had figured out why Iris had fled but didn't know where to, and had made up a story about a kidnapping and murder to conceal Iris' cowardice and betrayal from their children. Occasionally Maya Valerie even considered Wright to be as much a victim in all this as she and her siblings were, in that Wright genuinely did not know that Iris had left on her own.

Jana herself had no theories on the disappearance of Iris Wright. She was inclined to agree with Maya Valerie, since a lot of what she said made sense, but she had only been two when it happened, after all, and wasn't really related to her, even through the same tenuous connections she had with her 'cousins', the Wrights, therefore it didn't really matter to her.

"Well, if you don't want to hear about Daddy's old cases, what am I supposed to do?" Maya Valerie said, back to her normal, sugary self.

"Tell a _real_ scary story," Jana suggested.

"You always say mine are really lame, though," Maya Valerie said.

Jana closed her eyes, thinking. "Actually," she said slowly, remembering some comments from earlier in the day, "there is one case I am interested in hearing about."

"…is this so you don't have to read through any of the actual case files?" Maya Valerie said.

"…yeeees," Jana said sheepishly, "Anyway, remember how Alois compared Bertrand Nymphicus to this Engarde man? Do you know about that trial?"

"Hmm," Maya Valerie said, putting her fist to her mouth and looking down slightly, "I think I might have read that case file once... wasn't that the only time Daddy lost to Daddy in court?"

"...yes?" Jana said. Would it kill the Wright kids to distinguish their fathers somehow?

"Let's see," Maya Valerie said, "okay. March 2018..."

* * *

_April 9, 9:50 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #9_

A tense silence reigned over the defendant's lobby. Maria was keeping a nervous eye on Nymphicus. Jana was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Jana," Maria sighed, not taking her eyes off of Nymphicus (who wasn't even _doing_ anything), "what on Earth are you waiting for?"

"I told Alois to meet me before trial started," Jana growled, "I want to know if they successfully located Ragnar Svavarsson."

"You'll be finding that out in a few minutes anyway," Maria pointed out, "besides, just because Alois is your brother doesn't mean he has to-" Alois walked in, grinning somewhat apologetically. Maria sighed.

"Did you find him?!" Jana demanded immediately.

"Beruhige dich, Jana, bitte," Alois said, holding his hands up defensively but still grinning, "ja, we found him, but when we tried to talk to him he said he'd only explain his actions in court."

"So you're calling him as a witness?" Maria said.

Alois nodded. "Which is why I came here," he said, glancing at Jana, "_not_ because you texted me in all caps - I came to warn to you that no one knows what exactly is going to happen in there today, nicht einmal mir."

"I can make a pretty good guess as to what he is going to say," Jana mumbled, folding her arms.

"Meinetwegen," Alois said, rolling his eyes, "Maria... I'm sure you realize as much as I do that the only way you two could possibly get a 'not guilty' verdict here is by 'finding' the real killer, nien?"

"Um, yes," Maria said, her notebook out again.

"And I also realize that, if my suspicions are correct, it would be easy to pin the blame on Herr Svavarsson," he continued, playing with his hair, "so... I need you to keep a tight leash on Jana."

"What?" Jana said, readying her riding crop.

"Ach, it's just... if it's the only way she could get a 'not guilty' verdict, I'm sure she would have no qualms about putting a relatively innocent man behind bars," Alois continued, still talking to Maria, "so if you two are going to indict Herr Svavarsson..."

"If that happens, it will be for Glauketas' sake, not Nymphicus'," Maria assured him.

"I knew I could count on you," Alois said, smiling brightly, "Danke." And he left.

"What were you guys whispering about over there?" Nymphicus said, striding up to Maria and Jana.

"That is none of your concern," Jana said, pointing her riding crop at him. Nymphicus rolled his eyes.

"Court is about to begin," the bailiff announced.

* * *

_April 9, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom #9_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Bertrand Nymphicus," the Judge said.

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor," Alois said, looking deceptively relaxed.

"The defense is ready, your Honor," Jana said, feeling about as relaxed as Alois looked. All she needed to do was corner Svavarsson and this trial would be all over.

Easier said than done.

"If the court will recall," Alois said, "yesterday's trial ended rather suddenly when it was revealed that the testimony of one Mr. Ragnar Svavarsson was absolutely essential to this case."

"Yes," the Judge said, "because his fingerprints were on the decisive evidence?"

"Exactly right, your Honor," Alois said, smiling, "however, this fact hardly changes the prosecution's theory - we believe that there is a possibility that Mr. Svavarsson may have tampered with the crime scene somehow, but his motive was to ensure Mr. Nymphicus' conviction."

"I see," said the Judge.

"Objection!" Jana said, "the prosecution is leading the court!"

"I was merely explaining my theory," Alois said, grinning and leaning forward, "anyway, with that said, the prosecution calls Ragnar Svavarsson to the stand."

Svavarsson took the stand, and he looked not in the least concerned about the heavy suspicion currently being directed towards him. In fact, he looked downright jolly.

"Witness, name and occupation, please," Alois said, hands in his pockets.

"My name is Ragnar Svavarsson!" Svavarsson boomed, "I'm a naval historian, subordinate to Hyla and co-worker to both Bertrand and Kit, may he be having a fine time in Hel's embrace..."

"What? Ach, nevermind," Alois said, "Mr. Svavarsson, I assume you know why you're here today."

"Of course, of course," Svavarsson said, removing his cap but still smiling winningly, "you wish to know how I was involved in the crime."

"He's awfully upbeat," Maria commented, frowning.

"Your fingerprints were on the threatening notes found in Mr. Glauketas' quarters," Alois said, "furthermore, barring your involvement, Mr. Nymphicus had no apparent motive."

"Of course he did," Svavarsson said confidently, running one hand through his glorious beard, "after all, he sent those notes to Kit, didn't he?"

"Quite frankly, Mr. Svavarsson," the Judge said, "we suspect that you planted the notes." Jana sighed.

"...ah," Svavarsson said, switching to a more serious expression, "I see how this is." He replaced his cap.

"Therefore, we would like to ask you to explain why your fingerprints were found on the notes," Alois said, "and, if you can, tell us what you believe Mr. Nymphicus' motive was."

"Very well," Svavarsson said, and he put his fists on his hips and laughed. "A motive... well, Bertrand wasn't exactly famous for getting along well with other people, was he? Although I do grant you that if he was going to start poisoning his co-workers one by one, he'd likely start with me." He tilted his head, his grin manly and rugged. "So how do you know that wasn't his intention?" He laughed again. "Kit needn't have died - I suspect Bertrand really did intend to poison me, although the way he went about it was certainly questionable. Did he really think that I hated him so much I'd eat the food off his plate just to spite him?"

"I see," said the Judge, "now, why were your fingerprints all over the decisive evidence?"

Svavarsson shook his majestic head. "I'll plead the fifth on that count... for the time being." The crowed broke into discussion, which the Judge silence with a few swings of her gavel.

"Very well then," she said, "Ms. von Karma, your cross-examination please."

Jana nodded. Where to start with this one? "Witness," she said, "I am curious about dinner that night. Who was there and what exactly happened?"

"Oh," Svavarsson said, running his fingers through his beard again, "well, dinner that night was actually a bit of a celebration, which is why the only thing we had to set aside from Bertrand was a plate of rice." He put his fists on his hips again, sticking his chest out manfully. "You see, Satsuma had been on 'shore leave' for the past few weeks and was ready to return to us the coming Monday, so Friday night we had ourselves a little party. Everyone was onboard that night, including Bertrand, although he didn't join us."

"And what happened after this?" Jana asked.

"Well, it wound down when Satsuma had to leave. I set aside Bertrand's food and escorted her home. I didn't return to the ship until the police asked to see me there on Monday."

"So you were the one who set aside Nymphicus' plate of rice, huh?" Maria said, putting her hand over her mouth.

Svavarsson laughed. "Yes, it does seem rather suspicious, doesn't it?"

"Mr. Nymphicus could have easily added the poison after Mr. Svavarsson and Ms. Blackquill left," Alois said, "don't forget, Dr. Goemon did witness the defendant loitering around the kitchen after everyone had left."

_Hmm._ "Going back to the motive," Jana said, "you raise a fair point: it makes no sense for Bertrand Nymphicus to poison his own plate."

"Maybe finally cracked," Svavarsson boomed, "of course I don't know what was going through Bertrand's head... but maybe he did specifically target Kit after all!" He shook his fist, scowling now - he looked like some sort of vicious dragon, the likes of which you find on the helms of longboats. "Maybe his plan was to kill us all - Kit was only the beginning..."

"Objection!" Jana threw out, "That is conjecture! The witness clearly holds animosity towards the defendant!"

"Objection sustained," the Judge said, "Ms. von Karma, do you have any more questions for Mr. Svavarsson?"

Jana nodded. "He said he would plead the fifth 'for the time being'. I believe it is time for him to tell us why his fingerprints were found on the threatening notes."

"If you must know," Svavarsson said, "hmm... how should I put this?" he said, stroking his beard, "Well. The paper the notes were written on - Bertrand would periodically borrow paper from me. I suppose that's how my fingerprints got on them."

The court was silent for a minute.

"Why did you plead the fifth over _that_?" the Judge asked, stunned.

"That... is a very flimsy excuse, Ragnar Svavarsson," Jana said, twisting her riding crop in her hands.

"...we don't have a way to counter it, though," Maria muttered.

"Actually," Alois said coolly, pulling out a piece of paper, "the witness is lying through his teeth. We found stationary in Mr. Nymphicus' room that matched the paper the threatening notes were written on perfectly... and Mr. Svavarsson's fingerprints were nowhere on the unused paper," he said sharply, slamming his fist into the wall behind him. _Finally_, Jana though, smirking, _he's taking this seriously._

"!" Svavarsson recoiled, holding his hand to his side like he'd been wounded in glorious battle. "H-How..."

"Even if the paper is manufactured, the chemical composition of each 'batch' of paper will be slightly different," Maria said, glaring at Svavarsson.

"Ah, I see," Svavarsson said, grimacing as if in pain, "my area of expertise lies in boats, not paper manufacturing..."

"Witness, tell the truth!" Jana said, banging her desk.

"I... I..." Svavarsson said, leaning heavily on the stand, sweating.

"...witness," Alois said lightly, a small smile on his face, "why don't you just confess?"

"C-Confess?" Svavarsson said, narrowing his eyes at Alois. _Oh no..._ Jana thought. She could see where this was going.

"To planting evidence," Alois said, leaning towards Svavarsson, hands in his pockets, "to ensure that Mr. Nymphicus would be convicted."

"...oh, yes," Svavarsson said, pulling himself up to his full height, his charismatic grin reappearing as the gallery's noise level ramped up, "Prosecutor Alois... what you say is true. I knew that Kit's killer could only be Bertrand, but I was worried that he would get away with it... so, yes, I forged evidence." He shook his fist, laughing madly. "I needed to make sure that Bertrand would pay for what he did, and I was willing to go to any length... even if it was, technically, illegal."

Jana smirked as the Judge attempted to restore order in the court. "Objection," she said coolly, wagging her finger at Svavarsson, "witness. We will need to explain yourself better than that." She hit the bench with her riding crop. "Firstly, explain at what point you planted the notes in Kit Glauketas' quarters? After the body was discovered, there was no opportunity to do so."

"I - oh," Svavarsson said, sweating, "excellent question, Miss von Karma-Gavin."

"Explain yourself!" Jana demanded.

"Well, there's only one explanation, isn't there?" Svavarsson sighed, drawing himself back up, "I discovered the body before Bertrand." Once again the gallery broke out into discussion.

"Why didn't you call the police?" Maria demanded, slamming her hands on the desk. Svavarsson looked away, frowning slightly, fingering one braid. "Witness! Answer me!"

"I... had to make sure... that Bertrand would be convicted," Svavarsson said, still not looking at the defense. "It wasn't immediately obvious from the crime scene, but... I knew. I knew it was him."

"Explain how you knew it was Mr. Nymphicus, witness," Alois said, his face impassive, as soon as the Judge had managed to settle down the peanut gallery.

"Who else could it possibly be?" Svavarsson said viciously, "Those notes - even if they had nothing to do with Kit, he still wrote them. Bertrand Nymphicus is a man more than capable of murder." The gallery broke into low-key whispering, but Jana ignored it.

"Speaking of those notes," Jana said, extending her hand towards Svavarsson, "how exactly did you come into possession of them in the first place?"

"What?" Svavarsson said, now yanking on the little beard-braid.

"You heard me," Jana said, "you did not simply produce those notes out of thin air. Why did you have them in the first place?"

"I - of course, they were... directed towards me," Svavarsson said, frantically scanning the gallery.

"Please elaborate on this point," Alois said.

"Th- They were taped to my door. A new every other day. I didn't tell anyone else on the crew about them... I was going to burn them, but I thought if Bertrand tried anything, I could-" Svavarsson started, tugging on his beard nervously, "_someone_ could use them to secure Bertrand's conviction."

Maria nudged Jana with her elbow. _Ah_. "Objection!" Jana shouted, almost gleefully, "Ragnar Svavarsson. Your claim that Bertrand Nymphicus taped the threatening notes to your door contains a glaring contradiction."

"You're bluffing," Svavarsson said, no, hissed.

Jana smirked. "I do not bluff," she said, wagging her finger, "I believe that evidence is everything in a court of law."

"Then show us some evidence, Ms. von Karma!" the Judge said, banging her gavel to quiet down the gallery... again.

"Naturally, your Honor," Jana said, "witness. Explain how, if the notes were taped to your door, the tape did not leave any adhesive behind when you removed the notes?"

Svavarsson laughed, although it sounded less ringing and more hollow. "Well," he said, "clearly Bertrand used some high-quality tape that didn't leave any residue behind! He is fond of the finer things in life, as evidenced by his taste in women," he added, smiling charmingly.

"Actually," Alois said, and Svavarsson's smile vanished, "we did recover some tape in Mr. Nymphicus' quarters. It was very cheap..."

"But that's hardly the most interesting thing about this," Maria said, flicking her hair out of her eyes, "is it, Jana?"

Jana almost laughed. "Yes, there is one other thing," she said, "Ragnar Svavarsson... we did find adhesive residue on _a_ door, although it was not yours."

"What?" the Judge said.

"You did?" Alois said.

"Don't you dare," Svavarsson said in a low voice.

"Yes," Jana said, extending her hand, "the door that the notes were in fact taped to..." _Pause, for effect..._ "was that of Satsuma Blackquill."

"What?!" Alois said, recoiling.

"_What?!_" the Judge said, also stunned.

"WHAT?!" a woman in the gallery yelled. Her surrounding co-spectators began murmuring.

"No!" yelled Svavarsson, "No! Don't!"

"Which means," Maria said calmly, "if the defendant were to commit a crime, the target would surely be Ms. Blackquill... and it wouldn't a simple poisoning."

The Judge, Alois, even Svavarsson appeared to be at a loss for words while the gallery only got louder and louder as Satsuma ran down towards the witness stand, screaming, pushing past the bailiff. "Svavarsson-dono!" she was yelled, "Svavarsson-dono! Tell me - tell me it isn't true-! They're lying!"

"...Satsuma..." Svavarsson said, turning to look at her, "Satsuma, I..."

"Nymphicus-dono would never do that!" Satsuma shouted, tears starting to stream down her cheeks as the bailiff struggled to overpower her.

"Ms. Blackquill!" the Judge said, "Please! Return to your seat!"

"Svavarsson-dono!"

"Satsuma," Svavarsson said simply, turning back to the court and closing his eyes. Suddenly he pulled a long, wooden horn carved to look like a dragon out of nowhere and put it to his lips, blowing into it furiously. The sound that came out of the dragon's mouth reverberated deeply around the courtroom. At first it sounded sad and perhaps a little frightened, but then it gradually became filled with pain and rage and danger. It was like a ship-wrecking storm distilled into one long note. When he was finished, Svavarsson slammed his horn down onto the witness stand with a powerful blow that shook at least the defense bench. His eyes were wild and his hair was floaty, like lightning was coursing throughout it. "I did it to protect thee," Svavarsson said in a voice like thunder, "That Nymphicus scoundrel was unfit even for dogs. He must suffer for his sins!"

"...is that a confession?" Jana said, doing her best to act unimpressed.

"Nay," Svavarsson said, holding one fist up, "thou hast no proof; all that ye have against me is naught but circumstantial."

"Svavarsson-dono!" Satsuma cried again, still refusing to return to gallery.

"For Ms. Blackquill's sake, I'd like the defense to outline their theory as to what happened," the Judge said kindly.

"The prosecution has no objections," Alois informed the court.

Jana nodded. "Last year, the defendant, the witness, and Satsuma Blackquill were involved in a 'workplace love triangle' in which both Ragnar Svavarsson and Bertrand Nymphicus pursued Satsuma Blackquill. Ultimately, Satsuma Blackquill rejected both of them." Jana folded her arms. "Following this, Bertrand Nymphicus began posting extremely graphic threats to Satsuma Blackquill's door. However, Ragnar Svavarsson, for whatever reason, thought it best to conceal these notes from Satsuma Blackquill: he took them off of her door and kept them for himself. Then, last Friday, he felt as though his 'protection' of Satsuma Blackquill needed to go one step further and attempted to poison Bertrand Nymphicus."

"However," Maria said, taking over, "Mr. Svavarsson forgot to plan for Mr. Glauketas and his habit of stealing food. After Mr. Glauketas' death, Mr. Svavarsson was the first person to discover the body... and instead of calling the police, he thought to use his accidental victim as another way to get rid of Mr. Nymphicus. He took the threatening notes which he had saved just in case Mr. Nymphicus _did_ make an attempt on Ms. Blackquill's life and planted them in Mr. Glauketas' room to make it look as though Mr. Nymphicus was out to kill Mr. Glauketas from the start. At the same time, he also searched Mr. Nymphicus' room, presumably to find a good place to plant the container of potassium cyanide, which he had already wiped of his prints."

"...I see," said the Judge, "Ms. von Karma... are you sure about this theory? You're accusing your own client of some very serious crimes."

"Bertrand Nymphicus is guilty of some very serious crimes," Jana said, clenching her fingers, "but murder is not one of them."

"Well, witness," Alois said casually, "how do you respond to this?"

"Those maidens are lying, of course," Svavarsson rumbled, "it is true that I did conceal that scoundrel's threats from mine precious Satsuma, yet if I were to kill Nymphicus, would it not be better for him to die by my hand in glorious combat? There is no honor in a poisoning!"

"...which is exactly what you meant by it," Satsuma said in a low voice, staring holes into the back of Svavarsson's head (by this point the bailiff was content with making sure she didn't join Svavarsson at the witness stand). "Someone who makes threats like those... deserves no honor."

Svavarsson frowned, running his hand through his beard - Jana could almost swear she saw electricity arc when he did that. "Thou speakest the truth," he said at length, "however, thy logic is flawed. If I meant to make Nymphicus look to be the murderer by planting the deadly poison in his quarters, would not it make more sense to put it in an obvious place?"

"If it _were_ in an obvious place," Alois said, "then we would have suspected that it was planted in the initial investigation. Then again," he added, shaking his head, "I assume the defense means to say that the reason why Mr. Nymphicus' room was such a mess when we started searching it was because Mr. Svavarsson was looking for a hiding spot that only a careful investigation would turn up?"

Maria put her hand to her mouth. "That seems about right," she said after a moment's pause.

"How, then, would a search like that lead to the conclusion that he should plant the cyanide in a hidden compartment in Mr. Nymphicus' desk?" Alois said, leaning forward, "Wouldn't it make more sense to bury it somewhere in the mess?"

"Fair point, lad!" Svavarsson laughed, and it sounded more like an avalanche than bells.

"Wait! Hold it!" Satsuma yelled, starting forward again. _That poor bailiff_, Jana thought. "Svavarsson-dono - he knew! He knew about the desk!"

"Foolish wench!" Svavarsson exclaimed, recoiling and dropping his horn.

"What? He did?" the Judge said.

"Yes!" Satsuma said, "He was the one who made the false-bottomed drawer in the first place!"

"Your Honor, that is not admissible as testimony," Alois said, completely neutrally.

"No," the Judge said, "it isn't. Ms. Blackquill, please-"

"Nay, let her speak," Svavarsson rumbled, "she speaks only the truth... I did know about the secret of the desk. Which means," he added with a wolfish grin, "that it would not make sense for me to search Nymphicus' quarters! What would I stand to gain by that?"

"A-Ah," Jana said, grimacing - then realized something. "Clearly, then, what you were searching for was not a hiding place."

"And if you found what you were looking for," Maria said, smirking, "then I doubt you would've already destroyed it. Your Honor! The defense requests a search be done for any objects in Mr. Svavarsson's possession that originated in the defendant's room!"

"Haven't you already searched Mr. Svavarsson's quarters on the _Yamoto_, though?" the Judge asked, eyes wide.

"You forget, your Honor," Alois said, smiling softly, "that Mr. Svavarsson has been spending an awful lot of time on shore in the past few weeks. In fact, the night of the murder he wasn't even on board. Clearly, he was staying _someplace_ - in fact, the prosecution knows where exactly he was staying." He leaned forward. "I suppose the defense wishes to search Mr. Svavarsson's hotel room."

"That is exactly right," Jana said.

"Ha!" Svavarsson said, "I wish ye luck! I will not allow mine living quarters to be searched by hands lacking a warrant! I will fight ye every step of the way."

"...Alois, how soon can you get a warrant?" Jana said, frowning.

"It will... take a while," Alois said, sweating slightly.

"In the meantime, I suppose Svavarsson intends to burn whatever it is he took out of Nymphicus' room," Maria said drily.

"Assuming such a thing exists in the first place," Alois said, recovering, but not smiling.

"Which of course it does not!" Svavarsson said triumphantly, "and since it does not, ye have no evidence tying me to the murder!" He laughed victoriously. "I am no shedder of innocent blood - Nymphicus is!" He continued laughing wildly.

"...Svavarsson-dono..."

His howling laugh stopped abruptly. It seemed to hang in the air. For the first time since Satsuma had forced her way down from the gallery, Svavarsson turned around.

"Svavarsson-dono, I don't want to believe that you're the one who killed Glauketas-dono," Satsuma growled softly, looking at him with a very dangerous gleam in her eyes, "but just because there is no direct proof that you _did_ does not mean that you _didn't_."

"...treacherous woman..." Svavarsson whispered.

"Look me in the eye, Svavarsson-dono, and tell me that you didn't kill Glauketas-dono in a mad attempt to kill Nymphicus-dono," Satsuma barked, then put her hand to the handle of her sword. "Tell me!"

Svavarsson stared at Satsuma for a long, long time. Then he sighed, and turned back to the court. He gripped the witness stand with both hands and looked determinedly at the floor. "All this for a ferocious maid who will love me no more than the sea loves a sailor..." he muttered to himself, then looked up. "I grant ye my permission to search mine lodging at the inn without a warrant," he said, "you will find an album of pictures, taken and compiled by that scoundrel Nymphicus... every picture is that of mighty, lovely Satsuma, none taken with her knowledge. I took the album from Nymphicus' quarters after I discovered unfortunate Kit's lifeless body."

"Is this a confession?" Jana said, tapping her riding crop against her palm.

"Yea," Svavarsson said, "verily, it is... I conspired to grant Nymphicus an honorless death fit for creatures the likes of his... and yet mine plans were imperfect, and it cost the life of Kit Glauketas, who deserved nothing less than a warrior's death for his bravery and loyalty. I am deeply, truly sorry..."

Silence fell over the courtroom.

"Well," the Judge said at length, "I believe Mr. Nymphicus' innocence in this matter is very clear - namely, that Mr. Nymphicus is hardly innocent at all. In fact, one might even go as far to say that the true tragedy here is not that Mr. Svavarsson committed murder, but rather that he mistakenly killed Mr. Glauketas instead of Mr. Nymphicus... but I digress. With this in mind, this court finds the defendant, Mr. Bertrand Nymphicus **NOT GUILTY**on the charge of murder, at least."

Confetti fell and a miserable Svavarsson and an extremely angry Nymphicus were led off in handcuffs while Satsuma watched, looking like she was strongly considering committing seppeku. The cheers of the crowd seemed just a little sardonic.

* * *

_ April 9, 5:44 PM, Gavin Estate_

"So you're _not_ planning on continuing Herr Nymphicus' defense?" Klavier said, strumming on his old electric guitar. Jana liked to watch him practice.

"I do not consider a plea bargain to be a proper victory," Jana said, shrugging.

Klavier laughed. "If it weren't for the hair color, I'd think you weren't really _my_ daughter and that Franziska just cloned you." He shook his head. "Anyway, that's just as well. Herr Blackquill is clamoring to be the prosecutor for Herr Nymphicus' next trial. Knowing him, he'll probably seek the death sentence..."

"Das Todesurteil... for criminal threat and stalking?" Alois said from where he was leaning against wall.

"Ja," Klavier said, "I can understand that. The victim here is his daughter, after all... and if someone's threatened your kids, even if they didn't harm them, ach, well..." He shrugged, glancing subtly at Alois. "Herr Nymphicus' guilt is clear, nien?"

"Very clear," Alois said.

"Then Herr Blackquill will probably spend the whole trial 'suggesting' the Judge make the sentence heavier and heavier," Klavier said, "should be a fun trial to watch, anyway."

"If I am not doing anything, I will be sure to attend," Jana said, grinning.

"Wouldn't that just be rubbing it in Herr Nymphicus' face?" Alois said.

"I assume that's the point," Klavier replied.

Jana frowned. "There is something that still does not make sense."

"Was?" Alois said, "oh, why Herr Svavarsson would hide the notes from Satsuma in the first place?"

"Yes," Jana said, "Did he simply have no faith in Satsuma Blackquill's ability to defend herself?"

"You'd think she'd be more capable of defending herself than he was," Alois said, playing with his hair, "she's been professionally trained in using that sword of hers..."

"Ach, did you two never ask _why_ she was on 'shore leave' for that past few weeks?" Klavier said.

"...nien," Alois said sheepishly, "we didn't think it was particularly relevant."

"Tell us," Jana commanded.

"Fine, fine," Klavier said, putting his guitar down, "just in case Satsuma was keeping this private, you are not to tell _either_ Blackquill that you know about this, got it?"

"Got it," both Alois and Jana said.

"Well, as you know, Satsuma was adopted twenty years ago," Klavier said, playing with his hair, "following the death of her mother, who was a prosecutor. But the reason why she had no father to begin with was because he had died due to a rare blood disease shortly after she was born... and that blood disease is something that Satsuma inherited."

"What?" Alois said, shocked.

"Ja, it's true. That's why she's a naval historian even though what she really wanted to do was join the Navy like her mother had done before becoming a prosecutor," Klavier said, "and it's also why Herr Blackquill had the opportunity to adopt her in the first place - her only living relatives were unwilling to take care of her due to the expensive treatment that she required. Anyway, don't worry about her," he added, catching Alois' expression, "medicine has really advanced since she was born. Her predicted lifespan gets longer every year. But that's why she was on 'shore leave'."

"She was receiving treatment for her blood disease," Jana said, "I see."

"I... I had no idea," Alois said, clearly distressed.

"She has a tendency to hide it," Klavier said, shrugging, "because she thinks it makes her vulnerable. Which it does - treatment takes quite a lot out of her, literally." He didn't elaborate on the nature of the treatment itself. "So that's probably Herr Svavarsson felt the need to protect her like that... in the state she's in, she would have a very difficult time fending off an attack."

"I suppose he must have tried to kill Bertrand Nymphicus because Satsuma Blackquill was just returning from several weeks of treatment," Jana said.

"Ja, that makes sense," Klavier said.

"And... he hid the notes from her in the first place so that he wouldn't worry her...?" Alois said.

"Why bother, though?" Jana asked. Svavarsson's actions still didn't make sense to her.

"Ach," Klavier said, laughing, "you'll understand when you're older, Jana. ...love can be like that."

* * *

**A/N: Incidentally, the computer I've been typing these up on (not the same one as the computer I'm using to upload them) has no spell-check... so let's just pretend the typos are keeping to the spirit of the source material. Hehe.**


	4. Subterranean Turnabout, Part I

**A/N: Come on guys, no reviews? No favorites or watches, even? I worked hard on this.**

* * *

_July 27, 5:30 AM, Gavin Estate_

Mornings in the von Karma-Gavin household started with the sound of a whip. It was the only way to get both Klavier and Alois out of bed at a reasonable hour, really. Fortunately for Jana, enough time passed between when she got up and when her mother forced Alois out of bed that Jana always got the shower first thing. Not that she'd _intentionally_ use up most of the hot water, of course.

After that, they had a quick breakfast (usually prepared by Klavier, so by this point he was a pretty good chef) and the whole family (including Kristoph, who still lived with them) piled into a sedan (which Klavier constantly complained about) and Franziska, Klavier, and Alois headed for the Prosecutorial Offices, dropping Jana and Kristoph off at, as Kristoph called it, Wright Awfully-named Agency. Which meant that Jana and Kristoph were ready to start the workday before even Wright was, since they usually arrived in time to see the Wrights' morning routine, which was surprisingly hectic considering Maya Valerie was the only one of the children who got up early.

Today, when Jana and Kristoph walked in to the receding sound of rock and roll as the rest of the family drove away, the phone was ringing off the hook, Maya Valerie was filing papers at her father's desk, and Edgeworth was calmly sipping his morning tea in the kitchen, completely ignoring the phone. Ten seconds later, Wright, who was only about half-dressed, ran in a picked up the receiver. "O-Oh, hi, Pearls!"

"Good morning, Jana," Maya Valerie said cheerfully.

"What on Earth is that smell?" Kristoph asked.

"I burned my toast," Maya Valerie shrugged, "...okay, technically speaking Aunt Dahlia lit the toaster on fire."

"What did that accomplish?" Jana asked.

"They needed a new toaster," Dahlia said, "I'm only being helpful. Good morning, Kristoph."

"Good morning, love," Kristoph replied. Maya Valerie mimed gagging in the background. Jana held back a giggle.

"-woah, hey, calm down," Wright was saying, "I'd love to help personally, but I'm - well, yes, but this is the Oldbags we're talking about-"

"Sounds like something happened in Kurain," Maya Valerie said, raising her eyebrows.

"If it's a case, I want to take it," Jana said quickly.

"Pearls, please stop yelling at me," Wright said, holding the phone away from his ear.

"I should go," Edgeworth said, checking his watch, "Valerie, if you intend to go anywhere today, I expect you to change into something less revealing."

"Yes, Daddy," Maya Valerie said sweetly, then added "it's just a tank top. I hate having old parents" in a dark mutter.

"Okay, bye Edgeworth," Wright said, putting his hand over the receiver and kissing Edgeworth before the latter left. Once Edgeworth was gone, he returned to his phone call. "Pearls, calm down, it'll be fine. No, I'm sure - Pearls!"

"Is Daddy on the phone with Aunt Pearls?" Misty (who was still in her pajamas) asked, walking into the office, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Did something happen in Kurain?"

"No idea," Maya Valerie said.

"I told you, I can't come personally, but I'll send someone up," Wright said, "...no, Athena's busy too - of course I won't send Kristoph!"

"Rude," Kristoph muttered.

"If he's sending someone, it must be a case," Misty said.

"Uncle Wright!" Jana yelled, "Send me!"

Wright sighed deeply. "Jana's willing to take this - of course I'll send an adult with her. ...what? Yes, Maria, of course." He paused. "Oh, really? Huh. Yeah - no, yeah, I'll send Wat too, I think she can handle that." Pause. "Really, it'll be fine. Jana's good at this."

"Can I come too?" Misty asked loudly.

"No," Wright said flatly. "What? No, Pearls, I was talking to Misty - yes, yes, I understand. Pearls... okay. Okay. Bye." And he hung up.

"Go get dressed, Wright," Kristoph said immediately.

"Yeah, yeah," Wright said irritably, "Jana, as soon as Maria gets here, you two need to go to the detention center, then catch the next train to Kurain Village."

"Did one of Pearl's spawn get arrested again?" Dahlia asked.

"And somebody get a hold of Wat!" Wright called, ignoring Dahlia, as he disappeared back into the 'house' part of the building.

"...does that girl even have a phone?" Kristoph said. Maya Valerie shrugged. If Watson had a phone, it was probably always off: no one was really ever able to get in touch with her unless she wanted them to, which she usually didn't.

"I will be sure to tell your son 'hello' for you," Jana said, wagging her finger.

"I keep forgetting we have a son," Dahlia said.

"Would 'hello' be breaking the ban on contact?" Kristoph wondered aloud.

At that moment Maria walked in. "Good morning, everyone," she said flatly.

Jana looked at the clock. "Visiting hours do not start until 9:00," she said, frowning.

"Are... we supposed to be visiting someone?" Maria said, putting her hand up to her mouth.

"One of the Fey brats," Kristoph said helpfully.

"If you hurry, you could catch the 6:30 train," Misty said, "you could talk to whoever got arrested later."

"...we need to go to Kurain?" Maria said, frowning.

"Yes," Wright said, reappearing (and fully dressed this time), "Flint's being detained on suspicion of murder. Pearls is frantic."

"...which one was Flint again?" Maya Valerie said.

"The oldest one," Wright said, shepherding Jana and Maria towards the door. "Anyway, you two should get going. You can go to the detention center later."

* * *

_July 27, 8:40 AM, Kurain Village_

"…Kurain," Maria said, and took a deep breath, "I haven't spent more than three hours at a time here since I was nine."

"Mm-hmm," Jana said, not really listening.

"I guess the people here didn't really think they could trust a man with children under the age of seven," Maria said, looking around as Jana and Maria headed for Fey Manor - they didn't really know where exactly they should be right now, but Fey Manor was usually a good place to start. "Since they finally sent Miguel and I off to live with Dad at the same time…"

"Mystic Maria! There you are!" a voice called. A tall, ponytailed 19-year-old woman in acolyte robes fell into step beside them.

"Hello, Mairwen," Maria said, "how's Aunt Maya?"

"Mom's doing fine," Mairwen said with a cheesy grin, "Aunt Pearly, though, boy is she _in_ a _state_. Flint got himself arrested!"

"We heard," Jana said, "Uncle Wright sent us to defend him."

"So you're here to investigate?" Mairwen said, looking dubiously at Maria, "…and you brought _Mystic Maria_?"

"What?" Maria said defensively.

"Watson Justice is supposed to be coming later," Jana said.

"Watson… Watson…" Mairwen said, biting her tongue thoughtfully, "she was the one who said that channelling was 'unscientific', right?"

"Yes," Maria said.

"Well, Miss Science there will have a much better time investigating this one than Maria will," Mairwen said, folding her arms, "since the crime scene in a cave."

"A… cave," Maria said, her expression plainly bespeaking extreme discomfort.

"Pretty deep in one, too," Mairwen added.

Maria glanced at Jana, then back at Mairwen. "I can handle it," she said stubbornly.

Mairwen shrugged and said, "Well, it's your funeral. Here, I'll show you where it is," she added, and started jogging in the opposite direction of Fey Manor. "Come on!"

* * *

_July 27, 9:00 AM, Kurain Caverns_

Ultimately, having Mairwen guide them to the crime scene seemed a bit like overkill. There was only one cave in the area that had access to the system of caverns in the surrounding mountains, and the area just outside the cave was swarming with cops and civilians wearing Japanese-style clothing - the villagers, obviously. Jana could identify most of them on sight as some of the many children of Pearl Fey, but mostly because they had a specific "look": Pearl's children ranged between ages of 21 years to 10 months, and were a variety of heights and body types, but they all had fair hair (medium brown at the darkest, platinum blond at the lightest) and black eyes. In fact, only two people here actually stood out: a redhead, and a very frilly young prosecutor.

"Alois!" Jana called, running down to him. He turned around and started a bit.

"Jana?" he said, "Wirklich? I knew Fräu Pearl had called Onkel Wright for representation, but I was expecting him to come himself…" he sighed. Apparently he had been looking forward to going up against Wright in court, one on one, even though Wright had been defending since before he was born. Fool.

"I assume he's still tied up with the Oldbag case," Maria said, joining Jana and Alois, "so, the crime scene's in the cave?"

"J-Ja," Alois said, playing with his hair.

"Why aren't you down there?" Mairwen asked.

"Ach, I suppose you wouldn't know the cause of death yet," Alois said, frowning, "th… the victim was impaled on a stalactite."

"…aren't those the ones on the ceiling?" Mairwen said absently. Alois shrugged.

"Ah, so it's a very bloody crime scene, then?" Maria said, scribbling in her notebook.

"So you can understand why I'm waiting for the results of the investigation out here," Alois said, laughing nervously.

"…nope," Mairwen said after a minute, "I don't understand."

"I will explain later," Jana said.

"Is an explanation really necessary…?" Alois sighed, "so oder so, I guess if you came to examine the crime scene, you should probably go try and convince those scientists to let you in."

"…scientists?" Maria said, turning to look at the entrance to the cave.

"They've placed the crime scene under strict protection," Alois said, "apparently caves are very delicate oder etwas."

"…right," Jana said, "well, I suppose then we-"

"Jana!" a new voice called. Jana groaned. It was the aforementioned redhead: Arsenius (Jana wasn't sure if his last name was Gavin, Hawthorne, or Fey). This was Kristoph's and Dahlia's 13-year-old son. He had his mother's hair color and skin tone, although his hair was done up in the 'traditional' Gavin style, and he had been raised in Kurain Village as though he were one of Pearl's normal children. Thus, he wore a male version of the acolyte robes (which was exactly the same, except it had pants and excluded the large bow), not because he could channel (which would be stupid), but because he was apparently a very powerful psychic. How powerful exactly, Jana wasn't sure. She found him obnoxious and therefore didn't spend time with him - not that she ever got the opportunity. Jana hardly ever went to Kurain Village, and Arsenius wasn't allowed to come to Los Angeles lest he come into contact with his ex-serial-murderer parents.

"Arsenius," Jana sighed. She could see Alois turning away with a badly concealed grin.

"Are you going to be Flint's defense attorney?!" Arsenius demanded, grabbing Jana's hands. There were tears in his eyes. _This_ is why Jana found him obnoxious.

"Yes, I am," Jana said, pulling her hands away.

"Good!" Arsenius said, stamping his foot in a childish huff, "you know, I can't _believe_ Alois is going to prosecute him in court! He's practically your cousin, I mean!"

"Right…" Jana said drily.

"How are the von Karma-Gavins practically cousins to Aunt Pearly's kids?" Mairwen asked, scratching her cheek in confusion.

"Well," Arsenius said, "I mean, if you think about it, Flint's basically my brother, right? Because his mom was my surrogate mom. And his mom is half-sisters to my real mom, who is married, sort of, to Alois' dad's brother, who is my dad. Additionally," Arsenius continued, and Jana felt like banging her head against the nearest vertical surface, "Flint's mom's other half-sister was married to man who is currently married to Alois' mom's adopted brother, and Jana told me that they consider the Wright kids to be their cousins already, so why doesn't that extend to the rest of the Feys?"

Mairwen and Maria both glanced at Jana. They were both probably thinking how they didn't want to be Jana's cousins. _Jerks_, Jana thought.

"Does it ever occur to you how complicated our family relationships are?" Alois asked.

"Half of that did not even make sense," Jana replied, "well, I suppose then we ought to go investigate the crime scene."

"…yeah," Maria said, sighing, "let's go."

"Viel Spaß," Alois said, and Maria and Jana trooped down to the entrance of the cave, where they were blocked by a lean woman in a formerly-white coverall and formerly-black rain boots (her outfit was covered in mud) and a face mask and lab goggles.

"And who exactly be you, shorty?" the woman asked of Jana.

"This is Jana von Karma-Gavin, attorney at law," Maria said, "and I'm her assistant, Maria Fey-Armando."

"Ahhh, Gavin, huh?" the woman said, pushing her goggles up to reveal friendly black eyes and pulling her face mask down to reveal a wide, sharp-toothed grin and whisker-like lines on her cheeks. "Ay, you wouldn't happen to be related to Klavier Gavin, would'ja?"

"That is my father," Jana said.

"Aw, sick!" the woman said, thrusting one rubber-gloved hand out for Jana to shake it, "Your old man prosecuted mine in court back in the day! Name's Kitty Kitaki, yo. 'Sup?"

"…indeed," Jana said, gingerly shaking Kitaki's hand.

"So y'all 'gon represent Flint in court, right?" Kitaki said, "Hope yer as good at watcha do as that Justice homie was, bizzoy."

"I assure you, I am highly competent," Jana said, "Apollo Justice had the same mentor."

"Good!" Kitaki said, holding her arms up and bouncing slightly, "Dunno what yet the po-po got 'gainst Flint, but word is they've got an eyewitness. But! But! Flint didn't kill nobody no how, ya dig?"

"Nice to know that you believe in him," Maria said.

"Yeh, us G's gotta stick together, yanno?" Kitaki said, grinning foolishly, "Flint's my _boy_, yo. We real tight. I ain't sayin' Flint don't have to guts to ice someone, but no way he killed ol' Pete! Ya don't go an' kill someone for no reason!"

"So the prosecution has not come up with a motive yet?" Jana said.

"None that I'm aware of, shorty," Kitaki said, putting her hands on her hips, "Pete an' Flint, they were homies for life, aight?"

"Um... yes," Jana said, slightly lost in Kitaki's strange speech pattern, "well, we would like access to the crime scene..."

"Ahhh, I getchu, I getchu," Kitaki said, "we've been tryna restrict access in case some fool goes an' interferes with th' live rock down there - not even a lotta the fuzz been able to get down there, see? Just that funny-talkin' detective and summa her buddies from forensics. Dunno 'bout that prosecutor whatshisname, even."

"He's not planning on going down to the crime scene," Maria assured her.

"Aw, tight," Kitaki said, "the less the betta... but since you're reppin' Flint in court, I'll give you two G's the go-ahead, bizzoy." She un-clipped a walky-talky from her belt and shouted "Yo! Tuck, my man! Flint's lawyers want the grand tour!" into it. A few minutes later, a man dressed the same way Kitaki was appeared at the enterance to the cave.

"Flint's lawyers?" the man - Tuck, presumably - said in a light Southern drawl, "ah, good. I heard his family had close ties to that famous agency. Come on, y'all - we can introduce ourselves on the way down."

As the three descended into the cave, Jana got a rare opportunity to introduce herself, seeing how Maria was obviously not a fan of caves and therefore wasn't doing much talking at the moment.

"Ah, I knew you looked familiar," Tuck said, "I remember reading about you back in mid-January. I remember thinking about how when _I_ was fourteen, the only thing I cared about was cool rocks and cute girls. Anyway," he said, pushing his goggles up to reveal light blue eyes, "it's real nice to meet you ladies. I'm Tuck Alechi - I'm from Tennessee, originally, but I was intrigued by the caves in California, so here I am."

"I spent much of my childhood in Germany," Jana said.

"Yeah, I thought 'von Karma' sounded like a German name," Alechi said, laughing, "and Ms. Fey-Armando... are you from around here? A relation of Flint's, maybe?"

"Second cousin," Maria said stiffly, "I lived here until I was nine."

"Ooh," Alechi said, "can you do that weird dead people magic thing? Channeling, I think it was called?"

"...not very well," Maria said, "I quit my training when I moved to Los Angeles..." She jumped suddenly as a drop of water fell on her. "Gah!"

"Cave kiss," Alechi said, his eyes squinting in a big smile, "they're good luck."

"They're _cold_," Maria said indignantly.

"I take it you are not fond of caves," Jana said.

"Of course not," Maria grumbled, "they're dark and filled with weird bugs... and the air is so humid and heavy I don't know if I'll drown or implode first."

"Ah, it ain't so bad," Alechi said, "but if you don't want to be down here, just go ahead and take the route we took down, back up. We're trying to limit the number of people down here anyway."

"But-" Maria started. Alechi waved her off.

"I can keep an eye on Ms. von Karma-Gavin if you need me to," Alechi said, "I have seven younger siblings back home. I can handle a teenager." Jana rolled her eyes. Maria looked apprehensively at Jana for a minute, then nodded at Alechi, turned on her heel, and hurried away.

"I guess caves really ain't for everyone," Alechi sighed.

"Enough about her," Jana said, "how much do you know about the crime?"

"Let's see," Alechi said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "well, for starters, the victim was part of our speleology group - Peter Salt. He was impaled on a stalagmite when _I_ first saw the body, so I thought it might have been an accident, but according to Kitty, who first found the body, there was no way it could have been."

"How so?" Jana said. Kitaki hadn't mentioned anything about a body.

Alechi shrugged. "She was too shook up to tell us anything before the police arrived, and after the police arrived the prosecutor told her not to tell anyone."

"She must be a witness in court tomorrow, then," Jana said, raising one eyebrow. Restricting information was an unusual move for Alois. What was he up to now? "Are you going to take the stand?"

"I... don't think so," Alechi said, "if I am, nobody's gone and told me yet."

"Very well," Jana said, "in that case, you may tell me about the relationship between Peter Salt and Flint Fey."

"Oh, they got along swell," Alechi said, "Flint's a friendly guy - I can't believe they arrested him of all people. Getting along with your fellow scientists... ain't really a universal trait around here-" he cut himself off. "Wait a minute. Sorry, Ms. von Karma-Gavin, but the detective lady already told me not to go into too much detail about that."

"Could you at least describe to me the members of the spellogy group?" Jana said, frowning.

"Speleology," Alechi corrected, "and sure. Okay, so there's me - I specialize in geology - then there's Kitty - she's our entomologist. Flint's our cartographer. And Shannon Doah specializes in hyrdrogeology, Hana Lavatob in geochemistry, and Sen Ehkha and Mary Mec in general biology, with Sen specializing in troglobites and Mary in trogloxenes. The one who pulled us all together is Maren Go, I think she's also a hydrogeologist, but she lets Shannon do all the work - Ms. Go's main thing is exploration. Peter Salt used to be a cartographer, too."

"...I see," Jana said. She knew theses scientific types well enough to know that asking for an explanation of a term was just asking for even bigger words. "So, there are nine scientists total, counting the victim?" Jana said, counting on her fingers. Hopefully they weren't _all_ involved in the crime somehow.

"Yep," Alechi said, "although most of us didn't know each other until we all joined the group. I believe Flint knew Kitty and I think Sen from school, but other than that, he met us all for the first time when we started out. That _was_ a while ago, though. Our first expedition was Black Chasm, about, oh, two years ago? I don't quite remember... I think it was not long after this big media event about a hostage massacre. If I remember correctly, one of Flint's cousins was involved in the trial somehow, so he talked about it a lot."

"Three years ago?" Jana said, "Second cousin was the prosecutor?"

"I think," Alechi said, apologetically, "I'm bad with numbers. That's why I ain't a surveyor."

As they continued walking, Alechi began pointing out various cave formations to Jana and explaining how they were formed. Jana tuned him out, for the most part. After what seemed like miles of wet, dripping stone, they arrived at a 'room' that was, quite clearly, the crime scene: there was a corpse impaled on a stalagmite, and, while no longer quite fresh, blood everywhere. There were a handful of forensics officers, each one being watched like a hawk by a white-coverall-wearing scientist, and there was also Detective Noir, looking intently at the body and writing in a notebook. She looked up when she heard Jana and Alechi come in.

"Mornin', little dame," Detective Noir said, "I take it you'll be trying to keep that Fey bird from catching a bit tomorrow?"

"If you mean to ask if I am defending Flint Fey in court," Jana said, "yes, I am."

"Well, white luck," Detective Noir said, "we have a pretty darb case already, and we haven't even had a croaker look at the stiff yet. This'll be duck soup, and that's flat."

Jana stared at her blankly, then looked around the room awkwardly. It smelled weird in here.

"If you're wondering about the scientists," Detective Noir offered, "I think they're afraid we'll queer this racket... something about 'live rock'."

"...yes," Jana said after a moment. _Almost everything this woman says is pure nonsense_, she thought.

Alechi's walky-talky began beeping. He picked it up. "Ayo, Tuck, homiiiiie," Kitaki's voice crackled over it, very loudly, "kay, one, that red-skirted woman from earlier just came up topside, you sent her?"

"Ms. Fey-Armando?" Alechi said into the walky-talky, "yeah, I did. She doesn't like caves."

"Euh, figgers," Kitaki said, "anyways, we gotta 'nother lady up here, says she's an associate of that Gavin kid's... ayo, girl, what be your name again?" Short pause. "Somethin' Justice - ay, I heard of her father, I know she cool. Should I send 'er down, bizzoy?"

"Yeah," Alechi said, "I'll come get her." He re-clipped the walky-talky to his belt and jogged out of the 'room'. _Why does everyone on this case speak so strangely_, Jana asked herself. She sighed and started examining the body, trying not to step in the blood. She could feel Detective Noir keeping a very close eye on her.

Peter Salt appeared to be much older than the other scientists Jana had met. He was portly, with beefy arms, and probably short - it was a little hard to tell, since his spine had presumably been turned into pulp by the jutting rock. He, too, was wearing white cover-alls, but the hood was down and he was lacking any facial protection - Jana wondered if it had been removed in order to identify the body. His hair and closely-cut beard were black for the most part, but obviously graying. His eyes, which were wide open (a little creepy, Jana thought) were dark gray.

"-the first person involved with the investigation who actually cared to hear my rambling about the cave, Ms. Justice," Alechi was saying as he and Watson walked into the 'room', "and you're surprisingly knowledgeable, too. Are you that interested in speleology?"

"Well, not specifically, and you can call me 'Wat'," Watson said, laughing slightly and waving her hand, "but I just have an interest in _all_ things scientific. My mom's a scientist, so... well, sort of, anyway."

"Ah, I see," Alechi said, "so are you here because you specialize in forensics? From the looks of it, Ms. von Karma-Gavin won't be getting much info through the official channels..."

"Forensics is more of my mom's thing," Watson said, crossing her arms, "I actually specialize in temporal physics."

"Oh, swell," Alechi said, "ain't that a purely theoretical field, though?"

"...I wouldn't say that," Watson said, grinning, then glanced over at the body. "Oh, hey Jana."

"Hi," Jana replied without really looking at her.

"Find anything yet?" Watson said, walking over to the body and putting some latex gloves on.

"This whole area is covered in blood," Jana said, crossing her arms and frowning, "I... cannot tell what actually happened here."

"It's such a shame," Alechi said, putting one hand up to his cheek and sighing, "all that blood... it's going to ruin the cave. It'll prevent the minerals in the water from building up that stalagmite, and who knows what kind of reaction the animal and insect life is going to have to it... I hope it didn't get into any of the pools."

"Cleanup efforts are only going to make things worse, too," Watson said, also sighing.

"...a gink was zotzed here," Detective Noir said, "and all you can barber about is the _cave_?"

"...um," Watson said. Alechi coughed awkwardly. Detective Noir shook her head in disbelief.

"This dive is a lost cause anyway," she said, "we're far more interested in what kind of rap we can dig up on the egg we sent over. We've found some awful hinky things in his scatter, at least."

"…awful what things?" Watson said.

"My lips are sealed," Detective Noir replied.

"How are you even going to get the body out for the autopsy?" Jana said.

"…right question," Detective Noir said, "but you're tooting the wrong ringer here. I don't know."

"Are you _sure_ this wasn't an accident?" Watson said, playing with the strap of her shirt-thing, "I mean, who kills someone by impaling them on a stalagmite? There's no way-"

"That's the bunk," Detective Noir said, "get a slant, will you? The only way this could've been an accident was if the dead jobbie here fell onto the stalactite."

"Stalagmite," all of the scientists in the room said at the same time. Jana wondered if it was an automatic reflex or if they did that on purpose.

"Whatever," Detective Noir said, "anyway, give the ceiling a dust. What's missing?"

Jana and Watson both looked up. "…climbing equipment," Jana said.

"I see some hooks, though," Watson said, pointing at them.

"No rope, though," Detective Noir said, "I'll bet the hatchetman dropped the sap onto the stalagmite, although whether or not that was actually how Salt was knocked off remains to be seen. Anyway, that dingus is clearly too tall to just push some number onto it, so rope must have been used somehow - except the perp removed the rope."

"A foolish move," Jana said, "it might have been ruled an accident if they had left it."

"Well, maybe," Detective Noir said, "but there's still a Chinese angle to this whole thing."

"Care to elaborate?" Jana said.

"No," Detective Noir said flatly, "now, why don't you ankles take it on the heel and toe? There's more gumshoeing for you to gum at the scientists' base camp."

"Where's that?" Watson said, turning towards Alechi.

"I'd be happy to take y'all," Alechi said immediately.

"Tuck, you're supposed to be escorting anyone who needs to go between here and topside," one of the scientists, a woman, said.

"B-But Hana…" Alechi said.

"No 'buts'," the other scientist said.

"Can't Shannon do that?" Alechi said, "Here, I'll call her." He picked up the walky-talky.

"Irresponsible lout," the other scientist grumbled, then went back to breathing down the forensics officer's neck.

"Swell," Alechi said, and clipped his walky-talky back onto his belt, "alright, ladies, I get to show you to the base camp. Wat?" he added, holding out his hand. Watson grinned and took Alechi's arm. Jana rolled her eyes. She'd been doing that a lot already today, and it wasn't even noon yet.

* * *

_July 27, 12:00 PM, Kurain Village_

By "base camp", Alechi apparently meant a random house owned by the Feys which was currently filled with cops.

"People here don't really like outsiders," Alechi explained, "especially ones who come here to do any sort of research - apparently a researcher caused some huge disaster here 25 years ago, although even before that I guess there was another researcher who killed someone and tried to pin the blame on the Master… although I suppose she wasn't the Master back then… anyway, that's why it was such a good thing that Flint was with us."

"Because he's a Fey?" Watson said.

Alechi nodded. "Since he was with us, the villagers thought we could be trusted. But now…" he sighed deeply, "I don't think it was Flint, either, but I'm sure that it was one of us speleologists who killed Peter. Which means that the villagers' trust was totally misplaced…"

"What makes you so sure that one of the other speleologists was the real killer?" Jana asked, just out of curiosity.

Alechi was silent for a minute, then coughed awkwardly and looked away. "I ain't really planning on going back down into the cave today," he said, sidestepping Jana's question, "so I'll go get changed. Be right back, y'all." He wandered off.

"…that's actually kind of tragic," Watson said slowly, "their expedition here is finished one or the other, huh?"

"I do not care," Jana informed her.

"I wonder what he's hiding, though," Watson said, "he acts like everyone in the speleologist group got along just fine, but…"

"Obviously, they do not," Jana said, "and your magical bracelet powers are not needed to see that."

"…it's not 'magical'," Watson muttered sourly, "it's scientific."

_More like pseudo-science_, Jana thought.

"Okay, what were we doing again?" Alechi said, walking back in. As it turned out, he was a lean, tallish young man clothed almost entirely in denim, with a youthful, freckled face and straw-colored hair. "Y'all wanted to talk to the cops who were searching everyone's belongings, or…?"

"I doubt they will tell us anything," Jana said, frowning, "I believe the only person who _will_ tell us anything is Alois."

"I thought Alois was the one restricting information in the first place," Watson said.

"…yes," Jana said, "and?"

"So who's this Alois, then?" Alechi said.

"The prosecutor in charge of this case," Jana said.

"Jana's older brother," Watson said at the same time.

"…hm," Alechi said, rubbing his chin, "I don't recall seeing anyone who looked a whole lot like you, Ms. von Karma-Gavin…"

"They don't really look all that much alike," Watson explained, "but you can tell they're related from the way they dress."

"Ah. Come to think of it, I think I _did_ see a boy dressed in frills, too, although he was wearing purple, not black," Alechi said, "but I thought he was just some friend of one of the villagers - he looks way too young to be a prosecutor."

"He is sixteen," Jana informed him.

Alechi frowned. "Yeah… come to think of it, he was the one you were going up against back in January, wasn't he…? Irregardless, if y'all want to talk to him, we'll have to find him first. I don't recall seeing him milling around in front of the cave just now."

"…I believe I know who can help with that," Jana said, "one Amaryllis Fey."

"Who?" Watson said.

"Ain't she one of Flint's sisters?" Alechi said.

Jana nodded. "Alois and I do not visit Kurain Village very frequently, but when we do, Amaryllis Fey usually spends as much time as possible hanging around Alois."

"Great," Watson said, "so how do we find her?"

"I can help! I can help!" Mairwen slid into the room. "Also, I wasn't eavesdropping!"

"Uh… hi, Mystic Mairwen," Alechi said.

"I saw Mystic Amaryllis with Alois over at Aunt Pearly's house," Mairwen said.

"Then we shall go there," Jana said.

"…why were you here, anyway?" Watson said, "you're not involved with the investigation."

"Actually," Mairwen said, lacing her fingers together, "Jana never told me why Alois is afraid of blood, so I came to ask. I'm really curious about it."

"…ain't it just a regular aversion to blood?" Alechi said, "the same way some people have an aversion to caves?"

"A prosecutor with an aversion to blood?" Mairwen said, crossing her arms, "even if he didn't like it, why avoid the crime scene unless it were super serious?"

"It is pretty serious, isn't it?" Watson said, "I remember one time when I got a paper cut and he almost passed out."

"So, there has to be some sort of deep-seated trauma!" Mairwen insisted, "and I wanna hear it!"

"Does the term 'right to privacy' mean anything to you?" Alechi said.

"…I suppose you weren't here for Arsenius' grand explanation," Mairwen said, "but Alois is basically my cousin! …right?"

"I don't want to know," Watson said firmly.

"Anyway, Jana," Mairwen said, "I told you where Alois is, so you'd better spill!"

"Alright, alright," Jana said, brandishing her riding crop in response to Mairwen's enthusiasm, "as long as you do not tell Alois."

"Eh?" Mairwen said, "what? Don't tell… Alois?"

"You will see… there is a good reason as to why he is not to be told," Jana said, "anyway, Alois did not used to be like that. He was perfectly fine being around blood until three years ago."

"Three years ago…" Watson said, "that was that hostage massacre, wasn't it? The case that Miguel debuted with, against his father, no less?"

"Precisely," Jana said, "do you remember how there was one sole survivor?"

"I remember that," Mairwen said, "the sole survivor was accused of being the terrorist, but Uncle Diego proved that he had been in captivity for _years_ and had developed some sort of psychological disorder that made him think he was his captor!"

"Yes, well, this was not publicized due to this wishes of my parents, but there were actually two survivors," Jana said, "the man who stood trial, and Alois."

"Alois?" Watson said, "I… actually, I do vaguely remember something like that happening."

"Wait, you're telling me that kid survived one of the worst mass murders in American history?" Alechi said, stunned, "How?"

"…we do not know," Jana said, frowning, "he was found, unconscious and covered in blood but unharmed, in a closet. To this day, he still does not even remember that he was kidnapped in the first place."

"Ah," Watson said, "so… ever since then, he's been unable to handle the sight or smell of blood?"

Jana nodded. "The trauma was so severe that his legal studies were set back two years - that is why he debuted at the same time I did, as opposed to the same age."

"…so what happens if he finds out?" Mairwen said, "not that I'm planning on telling him, I'm just curious."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure letting him keep repressing his memories like that ain't healthy," Alechi said.

"That is just… how it is," Jana said, shrugging, "I assume Mama and Papa consulted a psychiatrist at some point."

"I wouldn't put it past them to sacrifice their son's mental well-being for the sake of his legal studies, though," Watson muttered. Jana hit her with her riding crop.

"Anyway, Mairwen Fey," Jana said, "that is the gist of it. Now we will go to Pearl Fey's house."

"I think you've probably raised more questions than answers," Mairwen said, "but I guess it isn't really relevant to what you're doing right now anyway. I mean, you do have a job."

"I'll go with y'all to Mystic Pearl's house," Alechi offered. And so they went.

"Does anyone know where Maria went?" Watson asked as they drew nearer to the house.

"She's at Fey Manor," Mairwen said flippantly, "hanging out with her mom."

"Ah."

They heard Alois and Amaryllis before they saw them. Specifically, they heard Alois wailing and begging Amaryllis to let go of his ruffles. Which, Jana saw as soon as the party of four entered the courtyard, Amaryllis was refusing to do.

Amaryllis was 16 years old, had hair on the darker end of the children-of-Pearl-Fey spectrum, mediocre (at best) at channeling, and apparently lacked a heart, soul, or any other thing associated with human emotion. Despite her lack of skill at channeling, she had never left Kurain Village, and thusly still wore acolyte's robes. Apparently she intended on leaving as soon as she turned 18 and never coming back (although what exactly she planned on doing, no one had any idea) presumably because she had literally no chance at any real position of power in Kurain itself - she was, what, 17th in line for the role of Master, and because she couldn't channel for more than thirty minutes at a time, there wasn't much else she could do anyway.

"Amaryllis, bitte..." Alois was saying, his arms flapping about ineffectually since he was apparently determined not to actually touch Amaryllis' hand.

"Jana," Amaryllis said in her usual complete deadpan as soon as she laid eyes on her, "please take care of your brother." She dragged Alois by his cravat over to Jana and shoved him towards his sister. He hit the ground roughly and immediately crawled behind Jana.

"What did he do?" Jana asked, stepping aside.

"He was bothering me."

"Nein, I wasn't!" Alois (who was still on his knees) protested, "I was just asking if she'd seen anything and she started - naja, she kept ignoring me-"

"And then he started pestering me," Amaryllis said flatly.

"T-There's a murder investigation going on!" Alois said. Amaryllis only stared at him, her expression continuing to be utterly impassive.

"Did you see anything?" Jana said.

"No," Amaryllis said bluntly, "Alois. Apologize."

"Ich haube nichts falsch gemacht!" Alois cried.

"Just apologize to your girlfriend, Alois," Jana said, digging her heel into his side.

"Aua! Wait, she's not my-" Alois quailed under Amaryllis' glare. "V-Verzeihung..."

"...that will do," Amaryllis said, yanking Alois up by the collar of his jacket, then steadying him on his feet.

"First Mystic Maria, now Mystic Amaryllis," Mairwen said, "Alois really has a thing for the kuudere types, doesn't he?"

"For the _what_ types?" Alois said, distracted, "warten Sie, what do you mean by 'first Mystic Maria'-"

"His crush on Maria Fey-Armando is holdover from before she started working for QLF," Jana informed Mairwen, "back when she was more kind and cheerful."

"I - I - I don't have a crush on Maria!" Alois said, his face turning red, "Jana!" He glanced at Amaryllis, whose glare only intensified the more Alois blushed and vice versa.

"...you sure put up with a lot from the women in your life, don't you, Alois?" Watson said, sighing.

"I am only trying to investigate a murder," Alois said weakly, "I don't know how I got into this Schwierigkeiten..."

"Janaaaaaaaaa!" Jana was suddenly blindsided by a tackle-hug coming from another one of Pearl's children. _Speaking of murder_, Jana thought, but since her arms were currently pinned to her sides, she couldn't use her riding crop.

"Hello, Oliver Fey," Jana muttered sourly as said child nuzzled her affectionately. Well, he wasn't really a child - Oliver Fey was 14 years old, same as Jana, although he didn't act his age - actually, he acted more like a puppy than anything else. He had lightish hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, and was a fair bit taller than Jana. She actually saw him more often than Alois saw Amaryllis: Oliver was currently studying at Themis Academy to become a judge like his father (and much of his father's family), and because of how far Kurain Village was from the city, only went home on weekends and holidays. Where exactly he stayed during the schoolweek, Jana wasn't entirely sure, but since it was late July, he was apparently home on summer vacation.

"You're defending Flint, right? Right?" Oliver said, pulling away from Jana (or rather, Jana pulled herself free), "There's _no way_ he would do that! You saw the crime scene, right? What happened there?"

"Stop - stop touching me," Jana said, raising her riding crop threateningly while shuffling backwards, to put some distance between her and the human puppy-dog (she could see Watson and Mairwen snickering, and Alechi looking bewildered), "and yes, of course I am taking this case. Why else would I be here?"

"Oh, good," Oliver said happily, "I heard as much from Mystic Maria."

"Then why was it necessary to ask me?!" Jana demanded.

"...I _like_ talking to you," Oliver said, bouncing on his heels. Jana, face hot, hit him upside the head with her riding crop.

"Y-You're so mean, Jana," Oliver said, "but it's okay, I-"

"You are not going to finish that sentence," Jana stated, holding her riding crop up again. Alois grabbed her arm.

"Oliver, entschuldige, but you didn't happen to see anything the day of the crime, did you?" Alois said, putting himself in between Jana and Oliver.

Oliver paused, chewing on his thumbnail thoughtfully. "Nope," he said after almost a full minute. Alois sighed heavily. "Sorry," Oliver continued, "but I didn't spend a lot of time around the cave scientist group. I'm not really into deep, dark places like that..."

"But don't you hang out around the entrance to the cave every morning?" Alechi said, rubbing his chin, "Were you doing that this morning?"

"Well, yeah," Oliver said, shrugging, "but by the time I got up, the police were already here." Watson frowned at him.

"Huh," Alechi said, but didn't go any further.

"Naja," Alois said, shrugging, "I still have plenty of other people to question... Jana, you're welcome to try, but-"

"Why are you restricting information?" Jana interrupted.

Alois smirked at her. "Keine Sorge, Jana," he said, "if Flint's innocent, you'll be able to prove it, ja? Aber," he frowned and started playing with his hair, "in the meantime, maybe it's time you learned that not every victory can be handed to you."

"W-What do you mean by that?" Jana sputtered indignantly.

"I mean," Alois said, putting his hands on his hips, "that I expect you to investigate on your own, instead of relying on Fräu Detektivin Noir and I."

"That is... that is unfair!" Jana said, smacking Alois with her riding crop.

"Nein," Alois said, rubbing his arm where Jana had hit him, "and it was Mama's idea in the first place." Jana scowled.

"Speaking of Mama, I don't want to be held accountable by your mother if Alois ends up covered in bruises," Watson said quickly, grabbing Jana's arm, "let's go someplace else, okay?"

"I'll go with you!" Oliver said, bounding over to Watson and Jana.

"No, no, no no no," Jana screeched. This was turning out to be such a terrible day.

* * *

_July 27, 5:30 PM, Los Angeles-Kurain Village Train_

"Jana, sit down," Maria said.

"I am sitting down."

"No, you're not. You're kneeling. Backwards."

"I want to see out the window."

"Jana, if the train suddenly stops-"

"Maria," Watson sighed, "just give up. Jana doesn't listen to anyone."

Jana, along with Watson and Alechi (and Mairwen and Oliver) had spent the past several hours asking anyone they could think of for clues on what exactly had _happened_ last night. Around 4:00, the body was finally removed from the cave. When Alois presented the autopsy report in court, it was probably going to be everyone's first time seeing it. By the time they needed to depart (or else they wouldn't be able to talk to Flint before court tomorrow), they were as in the dark as ever: anyone who had anything to say had already been told to shut up by either Alois or Detective Noir.

So now Jana, Maria, and Watson were sitting in an empty train car, well on their way back to Los Angeles.

"So, how's your mom doing?" Watson asked Maria.

"Dead," Maria said flatly.

"I meant besides that."

Maria shrugged. "She told me to say 'hi' to Dad for her. Not much else, really."

"...does your dad not talk to your mom much?" Watson said.

"Not really," Maria said, "Aunt Maya and Aunt Pearl - and their kids - like him just fine, but most of the other people in Kurain... well, I think they're still mad at him for killing the Master, so he almost never goes up to Kurain. Not being around channelers means you can't really talk to the dead, so..."

Watson raised her thick eyebrows. "Wasn't that over 35 years ago?"

"Yes," Maria said. She didn't go on.

Watson was silent for a minute, then pulled a small bag of vanilla Snackoos from her lab coat pocket and started munching on them.

"You are chewing too loudly," Jana informed her.

"Well, excuse me," Watson said, "but there's not much else to do."

"If you eat when you're bored, you're going to get fat," Maria said.

Watson frowned. "My mom eats when _she's_ bored, and she's not fat."

"Your mother is a police detective," Jana said, "she gets much more physical activity than... what is it you do anyway?"

"I'm studying to be defense attorney. You know that."

"How come you're hardly ever in the office?" Maria said. Watson was silent for a moment.

"So, Jana, what's up with you and Oliver?" she said instead of answering Maria's question.

"Nothing," Jana grumbled.

"Really?" Watson said, "because it seems to me like-"

"I am not interested in hearing your theories on our relationship," Jana said, grinding her teeth.

"...really more a hypothesis," Watson said quietly, then went back to eating her Snackoos.

"So, were you two able to figure anything out?" Maria said.

"I doubt the body was impaled on the stalagmite when it was found," Jana said, "judging by the fact that Kitty Kitaki did not think it was an accident."

"Kitaki found the body, right?" Maria said, covering her mouth in thought.

"Yes," Jana said, "and it is also likely that the police have actually found the rope that was missing from the crime scene."

"If they have, it was probably found in Flint's possession somehow," Maria said.

"Oliver saw something, I think," Watson said suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" Jana said.

"He was awfully tense for someone who didn't see anything," Watson said, playing with the hem of her shorts, "although what he saw and why he said he didn't see it, I don't know."

"Hmm," Maria said, "didn't you mention something earlier about the cave scientists covering up something?"

Watson nodded. "There's some big secret here, I'm sure of it. Something happened a long time ago, I bet."

"Perhaps Flint Fey will know about it," Jana said.

"I hope so," Maria said, "he's the only one who will tell us anything directly, isn't he?"

"Jerk Bruder..." Jana muttered.

"Hey, if I were him, I definitely wouldn't turn down a suggestion from Ms. von Karma," Watson said, frowning, "did you think about that?"

"I take it Ms. von Karma still hates defense attorneys, huh," Maria said.

"Even though her daughter is one," Watson said, sniggering, "Jana's family is really weird." Maria nodded.

"You two are ones to talk!" Jana snapped.

"It's not like either of us live with our parents anymore," Watson said, looking away with a slight pout.

"Your families are still weird," Jana said.

"Are you calling Miguel weird?" Maria said, smirking lightly.

"..n-no," Jana said, turning back to look out the window again, "Miguel is not _weird_. Your parents are. You are."

"That's nice," Maria yawned.

"Sounds like _someone_ has a little crush on their big brother's best friend," Watson teased, grinning.

Jana's only response to that was to lunge at Watson with her riding crop. Unfortunately, Maria was sitting in between them.

"Jana, no!" Maria yelled, bodily pushing Jana back into her seat, "Seriously, stop it!"

"Watson Justice is being highly inappropriate!" Jana snapped, her riding crop whishing through the air. Watson was just out of reach.

"I love being right," Watson said.

* * *

_July 27, 6:40 PM, Detention Center_

"Ohhh, thank God. Uncle Nick came by earlier and said you were taking my case, but I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." The man on the other side of the bulletproof glass, Flint Fey, was a short, broad-shouldered man with dirty blond hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail and a scruffy goatee not unlike Dick Gumshoe's. He was still wearing white cover-alls, although his face mask appeared to have been misplaced. His eyes were all puffy and red - apparently he wasn't handling being accused of murder very well.

"Of course we didn't forget about you," Maria said soothingly, "now, just to clarify: you didn't kill Peter Salt. Is that correct?"

"No!" Flint yelled, "I mean, yes! I - I didn't kill anyone! I _can't_ kill anyone!" He started crying. "Mr. Salt was always so kind to me...! How could I kill him?!"

"He's not lying," Maria and Watson both muttered at the same time. They glanced at each other - Maria put one finger on her Magatama self-consciously. Watson's left hand was already clutching her right forearm, just above her bracelet.

"Calm yourself, Flint Fey," Jana said, rolling her eyes.

"I can't believe Mr. Salt's dead," Flint moaned, holding his head in his hands, "why would anyone do this? How could anyone take another life in the first place?!"

"Apparently it isn't as hard as it looks," Maria muttered, then cleared her throat and looked at Jana expectantly.

"Are you aware of the situation?" Jana said.

"I only know as much as any of the other people in the speleology group would, I think," Flint said, sniffling, "I know Mr. Salt's dead. I know Ms. Kitaki saw something weird when she first found the body."

"Do you at least know why you were arrested?" Watson said.

"I... they found something in my room at base camp," Flint said, pushing his fingers together, "but I don't know what. They wouldn't tell me. And... they found some rope in the bag I had on me."

"Rope?" Watson and Jana simultaneously.

Flint nodded. "The kind we use for climbing to difficult areas or collecting samples from the ceiling," he said, "so at first I didn't see why it was so weird. And then they..." he went pale, "they inspected it and found blood on it!"

"Blood on the rope?" Maria said, putting her hand to her mouth.

"That must've been what was used to drop the body on the stalagmite," Watson said, playing with the lapel of her labcoat in thought.

"B-But I didn't move the body, either!" Flint said.

"Obviously, it was planted on you," Jana said, shaking her head, "how you could be so unobservant..."

"Do you remember anyone touching you or the bag you had on you between when the body was first found and when you were searched?" Watson said.

Flint shook his head. "I was in shock," he mumbled, "I was so dazed... I couldn't believe someone would kill Mr. Salt like that... I still can't..." he started crying again. _This is getting old_, thought Jana.

Meanwhile, Maria was frowning. "Flint... do you have any ideas as to why a stalagmite?"

"As to... what?" Flint said, looking down sadly, "I'm sorry, Mystic Maria. I don't know anything."

_That much is obvious_, Jana thought.

"You have a point," Watson said, glancing at Maria, "dropping someone onto a stalagmite seems like a little much just to kill someone. I wonder what the murderer was up to?"

"Perhaps the prosecution has some idea," Jana said darkly.

"Speaking of the prosecution," Maria said, "do you know what your supposed motive was, Flint?" Flint shook his head.

"What can you tell us about the relationships between the other speleologists?" Watson said.

"I... I don't know, they were always nice to me," Flint said, "but..." he looked away nervously. "We've been together three years, so of course some drama has sprung up. A-And some of the people in the group knew other people from before our first expedition." He swallowed hard. "But it was nothing anyone would kill over...!"

"...you don't sound too sure," Watson said, grabbing her arm again.

"W-Well," Flint said, pushing his fingers together, "I don't know what the story is. It's just... old stuff."

"It might be relevant," Jana said, "tell us."

Flint coughed. "Well... I don't remember who exactly it was... but there was a rumor that a few years before the Black Chasm expedition..." he looked down. And started crying again. "I - I can't do it. You're not supposed to speak ill of the dead unless it's Aunt Dahlia."

"Flint, Mr. Salt wouldn't want you to go to prison while his killer got away," Maria said, "what if this is the key to solving this case?"

Flint was silent for a minute. "...I heard that a few years before the Black Chasm expedition," he said again, "Mr. Salt drove his fiancée to suicide." He took a deep breath.

"...ah," Watson said, putting one hand to her face, "revenge. That's the real motive." Jana raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do you know who this fiancée was?" Maria said. Flint shook his head again. Maria sighed.

"Visiting hours are over," the guard said suddenly.

"Wait a minute," Jana said, "we-"

"Visiting hours are _over_," the guard said again. Flint gave them one last sad look and left.

Jana scowled. "Great," she said, "that was our last chance to get anything to use in court tomorrow... how utterly useless."

"On the contrary," Maria said, pushing her hair out of her eyes, "if that rumor has anything to it, then that might just be what we need to start getting to the bottom of this."

"I do not care about 'getting to the bottom of this'," Jana grumbled, "I only want my 'not guilty' verdict."

Watson shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder why Mr. Wright lets you do _anything_."

* * *

_July 27, 7:50 PM, Gavin Estate_

"A victory that is not hard-won is hardly a victory at all," Franziska said.

"That does not mean it is necessary to cut me off from the investigation," Jana replied, throwing a glare at Alois, who was playing Guitar Hero with Klavier.

"Phoenix Wright has won cases with even less information," Franziska said.

"I am not Uncle Wright."

"It'd be better if you were," Alois called, not looking away from the screen, "Miguel always says that stopping at reasonable doubt is just playing into the hands of the real criminal."

_Diego Armando says the same thing_, Jana thought, _I suppose that is where Miguel picked it up from_.

"Oh, Jana," Klavier said, as the song ended, "I heard you were investigating alongside Herr Forehead's daughter. Is that true?"

"Unfortunately," Jana said.

"I don't get why you don't like Wat," Alois said, "ich meine, she is a bit weird sometimes, but she's not _obnoxious_."

"You have not had to investigate a crime with her," Jana snapped.

Alois shrugged. "Speaking of investigating," Klavier said, glancing at the clock, "Jana, do you know where Kristoph is?"

"...he was on a case?" Jana said, crossing her arms, "I was not aware."

"Piano Gavin, go find your brother," Franziska said, frowning.

Klavier sighed and handed his guitar controller to Jana. "I guess I'll call Herr Wright." He left the room.

"Don't cheat like Papa does," Alois muttered.

"You cannot cheat on Guitar Hero," Jana muttered back, "you are simply terrible at it."

"Skip this song," Franziska told them, "I hate it."

"Franziska!" Klavier called from the other room, sounding aghast, "you can't just skip '13 Years Hard Time for Love'!"

"You are supposed to be contacting Wright Anything Agency, Piano Gavin," Franziska replied, stretching her whip.

"No one's picked up yet- oh, hi, Herr Edgeworth..."

"Mama, Alois is cheating," Jana yelled.

"I thought you just said that you can't cheat on Guitar Hero," Alois said, laughing.

"He is distracting me and I keep missing the notes!"

"Alois, I expect you to play fair," Franziska said.

"Kristoph is still at Wright Anything Agency, so I'm going to go pick him up now," Klavier said, "any errands I need to run on the way?"

"You should get milkshakes," Franziska suggested.

"Good idea," Klavier said, grinning, "okay, I'm off!"

"Sometimes I wonder why Papa did a single called 'My Boyfriend is the Prosecution's Witness'," Jana said as the next song came on.

Alois shrugged. "I bet he had a bi-curious phase."

"That would not surprise me," Franziska said.

* * *

**...I only wrote this because I'm a cave nerd. Also, the scientists' names were hard to come up with, so appreciate them please. Puns are hard...**


	5. Subterranean Turnabout, Part II

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, totalgamergeek!**

* * *

_July 28, 9:51 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #2_

"I still can't believe someone killed Mr. Salt," Flint said. He was crying again, and Jana was rapidly getting fed up with her own client.

"Yes, well," Maria sighed deeply, "someone did. And according to the police, that would be you."

"How could they even think that?!" Flint said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Flint Fey," Jana said through gritted teeth, "please do not speak unless spoken to. Outbursts in court will not be tolerated."

"Court hasn't started yet," Flint protested weakly. Maria put a hand on Jana's shoulder warningly.

"Hey, guys," Watson said, walking into the room, "good luck."

"And what are _you_ doing here?" Jana snapped.

Watson held up her hands. "I thought I'd watch from the gallery today. I mean, I have been helping you with your investigation, so..."

"That's fine," Maria said before Jana said anything, "did your friends in the forensics department tell you anything?"

"Not much," Watson said, frowning, "although since I already knew about the blood on the rope, they were willing to tell me that the blood was definitely Salt's."

"Hm. That doesn't look good," Maria said.

"Court will begin soon," the bailiff said, sticking his head in the room.

"Wait a minute," Watson said, clapping her hand to her face, "Ace? Is that you?"

"Uh..." the bailiff, who was indeed Ace Gumshoe, said.

"Didn't you pull me over in traffic a few weeks ago?" Watson said.

"I got transferred again," Ace said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "but seriously, pal, court starts pretty soon."

"Remember, Flint Fey," Jana said, pointing her riding crop at him threateningly, "outbursts in court will _not be tolerated_."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Flint said, wiping his eyes.

* * *

_July 28, 10:00, District Court, Courtroom #2_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Flint Fey," the Judge said.

"The defense is ready, your Honor," Jana said.

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor," Alois said, smirking lightly.

"Mr. Gavin, your opening statement, please."

Alois cleared his throat. "Very early yesterday morning, a body was discovered in a cave near Kurain Village by a scientist, who was in fact the victim's co-worker. He had been killed shortly before the body's discovery, and moved thereafter. After the police were summoned, the defendant, Flint Fey, was arrested following a search of his person and his belongings back at the scientists' 'base camp', where the scientists were all assembled when the police arrived."

"I see," said the Judge, "you may call your first witness, then."

"In order to recount the facts of the case," Alois said, "the prosecution calls Detective Noir to the stand." Detective Noir took the stand. "Witness, name and occupation, please."

"Blanche Noir, buttons gumshoe."

_Now she is just screwing with us_, Jana thought irritably.

"Detective, please give us the facts of the case," Alois said.

Detective Noir nodded. "According to the autopsy report," she said, pulling it out, "Salt's death was no accident. In fact, what cut him down wasn't even the stalagmite. He was impaled on it _after_ he kicked off. The real murder weapon was a chiv, which was found in the defendant's trunk at base camp. The chiv we found had been wiped, but it still tested positive for Salt's blood, and since the scientists all wear gloves as a matter of habit, no fingerprints were expected to be found in the first place." A fairly normal-looking pocketknife was added to the court record. "Additionally, the rope that was used to move the stiff was found on the defendant's person."

"Ms. von Karma," the Judge said, "your cross-examination, please."

Jana nodded. "Witness - the rope that was found on the defendant's person. The victim's blood was on it, correct?"

"I see someone's already given you the lay," Detective Noir said, "yes, that is correct."

The rope seemed to be a dead end, so Jana changed the subject. "About this knife," she said, "does it belong to the defendant?"

"...we aren't sure," Detective Noir said, "each scientist owned their own chiv, but they're all indistinguishable from each other. However," she added, "the other eight were accounted for."

"Hm," Jana said, playing with her riding crop in thought, "do you have any theories as to why the body was moved?"

"The idea right now is that the perp wanted to disguise the Harlem sunset," Detective Noir said.

"...isn't Harlem in New York?" the Judge said, and Jana suddenly felt much better about her inability to understand Detective Noir.

"The stab wound," Alois clarified.

"What is the point of disguising the stab wound?" Jana asked.

Detective Noir shrugged. "As I said, Salt fell on the stalagmite after he took the big sleep. Quite frankly, it's a pretty bing move, and the defendant didn't sing when we grilled him."

"The timing of it is probably the important thing here," Maria said, putting her hand to her mouth.

"Well, if you're wondering about the timing of it," Alois said, smiling softly, "that's a better question for the next witness."

"Do you have any further questions for the detective?" the Judge asked.

Jana thought for a minute, then shook her head. "No, your Honor."

"Very well," the Judge said, "Detective Noir, you may go. Mr. Gavin, please call your next witness."

"The prosecution calls the discoverer of the body, Kitty Kitaki, to the stand," Alois said.

"Kitaki?" the Judge said as Kitaki walked up to the witness stand, "as in the famous bakers?"

"Yeh, that my fam," Kitaki said cheerfully. She hadn't worn her work clothes to court, which meant that she was wearing extremely short shorts, hi-top sneakers, and a small, colorful hoodie, underneath she appeared to be wearing nothing apart from a sports bra. Her hair, which Jana was seeing for the first time, was brown with blonde and ginger streaks, and stuck up at odd angles despite being tied back into a ponytail. The overall effect made it look kind of like she had fox ears, actually.

"Witness, your name and occupation, please," Alois said.

"Kitty Kitaki, entomologist."

"Now, if you could please-" Alois began, but Kitaki interrupted him.

"Hold up," she said, putting her hands on her hips angrily, "there's one thing y'all never 'slpained to me, and I ain't saying nothin' 'til you spill it, kid."

"...what now?" Alois said wearily. Apparently his preparation of the witness hadn't gone very well in the first place.

"A motive," Kitaki said, "Flint ain't got no motive! He an' ol' Pete were tight, ya get that? Real homies! I refuse to believe that Flint woulda bumped him off like that!"

"The witness' emotional opinion is duly noted," Alois said drily, "and as for the motive, the victim had recently won the lottery, so we assume the motive was financial in nature."

"Bull!" Kitaki yelled, "one, Flint's fam was pretty well-off ta begin with, why would he snap over cash money like that? And two, if there was anyone of our crew who'd get killed over dough, it's me, bizzoy! Why go for a dumb-butt lotto ticket when you could get at the Kitaki family fortune? That's whack, yo-!"

Alois slammed his fist into the wall behind him, which successfully startled Kitaki into momentary silence. "Witness," he said, his soft smile returning, except it was pretty strained this time around, "please just tell the court what you saw and keep your conjecture to yourself."

Kitaki crossed her arms and looked awkwardly away for a moment, then said, "Aight, but only because I trust shorty over there," with a nod towards the defense bench.

"Well, get on with it," the Judge said, probably more rudely than she'd intended.

"Course, ya'onna," Kitaki said nervously, "well... I was the first one to find ol' Pete's body. But... when I found him... he wasn't..." Her eyes went wide and Jana noticed she was trembling. "He was on the ceiling... like he'd been caught by an arachnocampa...!"

"By a what?" said the Judge.

"Just pretend she's talking about spiders, you Honor," Alois said.

"Ah," the Judge said, "so when you first saw the body, it was hanging from the ceiling?"

"Yeah," Kitaki said, sweating slightly, "strung up wit' the rope that the fuzz found on Flint, I think. Anyways... as soon as I saw that, I ran outta the cave and called the po-po. But when they got there... some G had moved Ol' Pete."

"All right, Ms. von Karma," the Judge said, "your cross-examination, please."

"Witness," Jana said, "when you headed down into the cave the first time, were you alone?"

Kitaki shook her head. "Man, we ride together, we die together, ya hear? Nobody in they right mind is gon' go down there by themselves."

"When was the victim last seen alive?" Jana asked, "Was he going down into the cave by himself?"

"I..." Kitaki said, playing with a lock of her hair, "I'unno... the last time I saw him was the night before..."

"The person who last saw Mr. Salt alive is currently prepared as a witness," Alois said, "in the meantime, the defense ought to set aside that question and continue the cross-examination."

"Do not tell me what to do," Jana muttered.

"Ignore him," Maria said.

Jana cleared her throat. "Witness, who else was with you?"

Kitaki looked at the courtroom ceiling thoughtfully. "I know Flint was with me," she said slowly, "and... I think so were Hana and Mary. Oh, an' Miz Maren."

"Who?" the Judge said.

"Other members of the speleology group," Alois said, putting his hands in his pockets, "Hana Lavatob, Mary Mec, and the 'leader', Maren Go."

"It's whack, though," Kitaki said, "'cuz I don't remember Miz Maren comin' down with us in the first place... I guess she was in the back of the party, bizzoy."

"...I do not think that is particularly relevant," Jana said, "tell us, who exactly was with you when you ran out to call the police? Was anyone missing?"

"I'unno," Kitaki replied, frowning, "I don't think so."

"And were you the only one to see the body hanging from the ceiling?" Jana said.

"Yeh, pre' sure," Kitaki said, "I was th' one in the front, so I was the first one in the room. Soon's I saw _that_, man, I bolted. The others turned tail an' left with me when I started runnin' for the surface. No one else made it into the room."

"But the defendant was in this party," Jana said, "so, can the prosecution explain at what point Flint Fey had the opportunity to move the body?"

"Well," Alois said, "as of yet, we're not sure of the exact configuration of the ropes that held the corpse on the ceiling."

"It was dark," Kitaki said defensively.

"Anyway, we can't rule out some sort of trick that remotely triggered the body falling, or else timed it so that it would fall after Ms. Kitaki found it," Alois said.

"...do you you have anything to back that claim up?" Maria said.

"If the defense would look at the court record once in a while," Alois said drily, "they'd see that the rope found on Mr. Fey was cut by a knife after it got blood on it."

"Oh," Jana said. So it was.

"So, it's likely that this crime was premeditated?" the Judge said.

Alois shrugged. "Usually when there's some sort of complicated set-up, it is... although that isn't always the case, so the prosecution doesn't necessarily contend this."

Jana sincerely doubted that Flint would be smart enough to make a complicated set-up in the first place, but apparently that defense would only be needed if Alois changed his mind about pursuing the premeditation. "Do you recall anything unusual about the crime scene at the time you found it?" she asked Kitaki instead.

"...there was a dead body," Kitaki said, "and I already said it was dark, yo."

"So you didn't notice anything?" Maria said.

"H-Hey, if you'da walked in onna dead guy strung up like that, you'd be shocked too," Kitaki said defensively.

"Was anyone exhibiting unusual behavior between when you discovered the body and when the police arrived?" Jana said.

"Ummmm," Kitaki said, looking towards the ceiling again, "I'unno... I was pre' shook up at the time. I could barely talk, so it was real hard to call 911." She shrugged. "I don't think anyone e'en knew ol' Pete was dead 'til I started yellin' into the phone."

"So when you called the police, you reported that he was dead?" Jana asked.

"Yeh," Kitaki said, "pre' sure I did, anyway. I don't really 'member the call itself, but right after that Miz Maren was all yellin' 'bout how ol' Pete had just died, so I musta mentioned it."

"Why did you not call for an ambulance, then?" Jana said, "Why were you so sure he was dead at that point in time?"

Kitaki was silent for a moment. "I... really don't remember," she said at length, "honest, I was right freaked at that point, aight? I was in a total panic right up 'til the police got there." She put her hands in her pockets and gave the court puppy-dog eyes. "I know I act all hard an' stuff, but dead bodies really skeev me out."

"Understandable," Alois said, "well, if the defense has no further questions, I'd like to call my next witness, your Honor."

"Well, Ms. von Karma?" the Judge said.

"One last question," Maria said before Jana could say anything, "witness, you believe that Mr. Fey isn't the real killer. Do you have any theories as to who is?"

"Please don't ask the witnesses to engage in conjecture," Alois sighed, but the Judge didn't stop them.

"Um..." Kitaki said, "I really don't know. I'd like ta think that none of us G's would just up an' kill one of our homies like that, but I don't see who else coulda. No one in the village never talked to ol' Pete, and it's not like there was anyone else around." She shrugged. "But no way Flint did it, and neither did I, so I guess that narrows it down to only six peeps, since I don't think ol' Pete killed hisself."

"In your opinion, do any of the six potential suspects have a motive?" Maria asked.

"I'unno," Kitaki said, "I don't like to keep up with drama. But Flint had even less a motive than the others coulda. He loved ol' Pete like a weird uncle dude, ya dig?" she added quickly.

"The defense has no remaining questions for this witness," Jana said once Maria nodded.

"Very well, Ms. Kitaki, you may go," the Judge said.

"The prosecution calls Arsenius, um, Hawthorne to the stand," Alois said. Jana recoiled in shock. _Arsenius is going to testify against Flint Fey?_ she thought, _Even though he was mad at Alois for prosecuting?!_

"I guess Alois finally figured out what his actual last name is," Maria said thoughtfully as Arsenius nervously took the stand.

"Arsenius, you are a hypocrite," Jana said sourly, "why on earth are you testifying-?"

"Because he saw something very _interesting_," Alois said, grinning, "and I can be very persuasive, you know."

"I'm sorry, Flint," Arsenius said, tears in his eyes. Flint looked like he was going to say something in response, but stayed silent when he saw Jana bending her riding crop irritably.

"Witness, name and... occupation," Alois said. Come to think of it, Arsenius was probably the youngest person he'd ever had as a witness in court. And the youngest person that Jana had to cross-examine... not that that would change anything.

"Arsenius Hawthorne," he said, "and I... um, am only 13, so I guess my job is... acolyte? Sort of?" He wrung his hands nervously.

"That'll do," Alois said quickly, "now, please tell the court what you saw the night of the murder."

Arsenius took a deep breath. "Th-the night of the murder," he said, "I saw... Flint and Mr. Salt. I think they were preparing to go down into the cave. They were talking... and th-then, Flint," he looked down and started crying. Jana was honestly disgusted. "F-Flint, he," Arsenius continued, "he... pulled out his knife... and started moving towards Mr. Salt..."

The court was silent for a moment. Jana put her hands over her ears in disbelief. "What happened next?" the Judge said.

"I - I'm not sure," Arsenius said, refusing to look up at the Judge, "I was kinda scared, so I r-ran and hid... I didn't know what to do..."

"I think it's safe to assume that A- Mr. Hawthorne witnessed the moment just before the stabbing," Alois said.

Jana took a deep breath. She had to find _some_ way to explain this away. "Does this mean that the prosecution contends that the crime scene was not, in fact, in the cave itself?"

"According to Mr. Hawthorne's testimony, yes," Alois replied.

"Objection!" Jana said, "all of the bloodstains were found in the cave itself!"

"And?" Alois said smoothly, although he did go slightly pale, "have you forgotten that a knife acts like a plug on a stab wound? If the victim was stabbed outside of the cave but the knife was not removed until his body was inside the cave, then naturally all of the blood would be in the cave."

"Plug or not," Maria said, writing in her notebook again, "there would still be _some_ spillage."

"The victim was wearing his coveralls at the time of the stabbing," Alois said dismissively, "so the initial bloodshed would have been caught by them. It'd be easy to fake a crime scene... especially if the fake one were as dramatic as the one we have."

"Objection!" Jana said again, "what possible reason would Flint Fey have to fake the crime scene?"

Alois shrugged. "That, too, is one of the things that only the murderer knows... at least for the time being. In the meantime..." he glanced significantly at the Judge.

"Oh, right," the Judge said, "the defense may begin its cross-examination."

Jana sighed. She'd heard plenty of stories about judges and their apparent psychic connection to the prosecution, but she'd always considered Alois to be too much of a dweeb to accomplish that. "Very well," she said, "witness. Where exactly were the defendant and the victim when you saw this?"

"...um," Arsenius said, then pointed at a place on a map of the area around Kurain Village, "here?" He was pointing just outside of a house by the clearing in front of the cave where all the police had been yesterday. "I was standing on the porch of this house at the time, I think."

"And what time was it?" Jana said.

"...ummmmm," Arsenius said, looking away awkwardly, "maybe... three in the morning...?"

"...why were you up at three in the morning?" Maria demanded. Arsenius flinched.

"Why the witness was awake that late is completely irrelevant," Alois said.

"You really should go to bed earlier, though," the Judge said, "witness, you're a growing boy and you need your sleep!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Arsenius said. _I keep forgetting that the Judge is a mother_, Jana thought. She glanced at Maria. Wasn't the Judge's son around Maria's age?

"Moving on," Jana said, looking back to Arsenius, "now, witness, you did not actually see the moment of the stabbing, is that correct?"

"Y-Yes," Arsenius said.

Out of the corner of her, Jana saw Maria get hit in the back of the head with a wadded-up piece of paper. Maria unfolded it, read it, and leaned over to whisper to Jana. "It's from Wat. She says Arsenius is definitely lying."

"Why would Arsenius lie?" Jana whispered back.

Maria shrugged, and straightened up again.

Jana cleared her throat and said, "Describe in more detail what Flint Fey and Peter Salt were doing before my client pulled out the knife."

"U-Uh..."

"Now," Jana said, slamming her bench with her riding crop. Arsenius jumped back. Maria sighed deeply as Jana smirked.

"T-They were just, you know, preparing to go down into the cave," Arsenius said.

"How do you know this?"

"What else would they be doing?"

Jana crossed her arms. "You stated that they were talking. What were they talking about?"

Arsenius gave Jana a long look before replying. "I don't know. I couldn't hear."

"Did they appear to be arguing?" Maria asked, "for instance, were either of them making angry gestures, or were their voices raised...?"

"I... I don't think so," Arsenius said.

"So they were not arguing," Jana said.

"I guess?" Arsenius said, looking nervously at Alois, who didn't respond.

"That makes no sense, of course," Jana said haughtily, "why would Flint Fey suddenly stab Peter Salt if they had not previously been arguing?"

"Hey, you're right," Arsenius said, looking up hopefully, "maybe Flint never _really_ intended-"

"No," Alois interrupted, "it makes sense, if we assume that Mr. Fey and Mr. Salt knew Mr. Hawthorne was watching them."

"E-Excuse me?" Jana said.

Alois played with his hair, grinning almost gleefully. "If you were getting into a heated argument in front of a little 'brother' who looked up to you - wouldn't you keep your voice quiet?"

"I would not," Jana said.

"Assume you experience love like a normal human being does."

Jana scowled and was struck with the sudden impulse to cry "Your Honor!"... but she didn't. That would be childish. Instead, she said, "Even if Flint Fey kept his voice low in deference to Arsenius, that would not explain why Peter Salt did not shout."

"Mr. Salt was the one who got stabbed," Alois said, "so it's very well possible that he wasn't angry. Perhaps only the defendant was."

"...anyway," Jana said. That didn't go well. "Witness, after you saw Flint Fey coming towards the victim with a knife, you ran and hid."

"Y-Y-Yes," Arsenius said, drooping.

"What happened after that?" Jana said, slamming her riding crop on the bench. Arsenius flinched.

"I don't know," he said indignantly, "I was hiding. I couldn't see them."

"Yes," Jana said, "but you could still hear them, no?"

"...uh," Arsenius said, sweating, "well, I guess..."

"Did you hear Peter Salt scream?" Jana said, extending her hand.

"N- ...no," Arsenius said, wringing his hands.

"That seems unlikely," Jana said, wagging her finger.

"Perhaps Mr. Fey covered the victim's mouth before he stabbed him," Alois said, "then, Mr. Salt would have no way of screaming." He pulled out the autopsy report again. "The initial stab wound _does_ appear to be in the back."

"Objection!" Jana said, "the witness has already stated that Flint Fey pulled his knife _before_ moving towards Peter Salt. Why, then, would Peter Salt not scream as he was being attacked, or even before? Especially," she added, pointing at Arsenius with her riding crop, "if he knew there was a witness nearby."

"...hmm," Alois said, cringing, "well..."

"Additionally, if the witness' testimony is accurate, why would the stab wound not be in the _front_? Arsenius!" Jana yelled, slamming on her desk, "explain yourself! If you claim to have seen Flint Fey attack Peter Salt..."

"I - I never said that!" Arsenius said, sweating, "I said I was hiding - I don't know what happened after Flint came towards Mr. Salt with the knife-!" Right on cue, Maria was hit in the back of the head with another balled-up piece of paper.

"That's what he's lying about," Maria said, reading the note, "apparently, he knows exactly what happened after Flint came towards Mr. Salt with the knife."

"N-N-No I don't!" Arsenius said, trembling. The lights in the courtroom flickered. The Judge looked unnerved.

"What is wrong with the Judge?" Jana muttered.

"She was involved in the Regina Berry incident 25 years ago," Maria whispered, "so, understandably, she's still frightened of psychics."

_Understandably?_ Jana thought, confused. She didn't know anything about the Regina Berry incident, other than the fact that it had leveled a courtroom while her parents were still in it. Regardless, she pressed forward with the cross-examination. "Arsenius," she said, banging on her desk, "you are in a court law. Tell the truth! The whole truth!"

"Please stop bullying the witness," Alois said drily as the lights in the courtroom flickered some more.

"What happened after Flint Fey advanced towards Peter Salt with the knife?" Jana insisted.

"I - I-!" Arsenius said, and the temperature in the courtroom seemed to be raising, "w-well, I... um..." He covered his head with his arms. "I d-did see Flint pulling a knife on Mr. Salt, b-but..."

"What did you see after that?" Jana demanded.

"...I got scared," Arsenius said. Was it just Jana, or were there tremors running through the ground? "I got scared and I... did s-something I wasn't supposed to..."

"Arsenius, calm down," Maria said softly, "you won't get in trouble. Just tell us what happened."

"I... I was scared that Flint and Mr. Salt were fighting, and someone would get hurt, so I..." he shuddered, then drew a deep breath, "I used my powers!"

The court was totally silent for a moment before Arsenius continued.

"I did it without thinking... Flint's knife just suddenly went flying...!" he said, sobbing, "And when they were looking around to see what happened... I thought they might tell Aunt Pearl, so I ran away... I don't know what happened after that."

The court continued to be silent. The Judge looked stunned. Maria looked bewildered. Flint looked sheepish. Alois' head was in his hands and his shoulders were shaking - Jana was pretty sure that he was trying very hard not to laugh hysterically in the middle of trial.

"So, in short, there is no way that you witnessed the actual moment preceding the stabbing," Jana said, playing with her riding crop. She was honestly finding it hard to believe that Arsenius could be so _childish_, but she supposed she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I - I don't think so," Arsenius said, sniffling.

"Why did you not just say so?!" Jana shouted, pointing her riding crop at him. Arsenius jumped back and the lights in the courtroom went out with a soft _bink_ sound. The only light source now was the faint glow from Maria's magatama, which barely illuminated her neck - at least until people in the gallery started pulling out lighters and cell phones.

"I suppose he thought it'd be alright if he just left his misbehavior out of his testimony," Alois said, sounding a mix between amused and insulted, then added in a very unsubtle mutter, "meine Güte, how can I be related to…"

"I'm sorry," Arsenius said hoarsely.

"Well, the point still stands," Alois said, and Jana imagined he was grinning triumphantly, "whether or not it was possible for Mr. Hawthorne to see the moment of the murder itself, he _still saw_ the defendant pull a knife on the victim!"

This wasn't good. "Hold it!" Jana said, "witness! You said the knife went flying - where exactly did it land?" It was a longshot, admittedly, but she had to distract the Judge.

"Um..." Arsenius said, his voice slightly muffled, "I think it fell into... the fire pit."

_A fire pit?_ Jana thought. This could be her chance. "Was there currently a fire?"

"Yeah... a big one," Arsenius said, "Kurain Village is up in the mountains, so even though it's July, it's still pretty cold at three in the morning."

"I see," Jana said, then smacked her riding crop against her desk, "in that case, we have a way of confirming which pocketknife belonged to the defendant. We simply need forensics to check for recent heat damage!"

"V-Very well," the Judge said, "while forensics does that, I will declare a recess-"

"Objection!" Alois yelled, "Your Honor, that is completely unnes-"

"Overruled," the Judge said, "and the current witness is dismissed, too. This court is now in recess until forensics comes back with the results on the pocketknives." She banged her gavel. "And bailiff, please look into restoring power to this courtroom..."

* * *

_July 28, 2:46 PM, Defendant's Lobby #2_

"That was a dirty trick, kleine Schwester," Alois said darkly, "taking advantage of the Judge's fear of psychics like that..."

"I am not the one who thought to summon one to the stand," Jana said, wagging her finger at him.

"How was I supposed to know she was involved in the Regina Berry incident?" Alois grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Was auch immer... I think we both know that as soon as forensics gets back, I can call for a verdict anyway, even if the murder weapon_ wasn't _Flint's knife."

"Are you planning on doing that?" Maria said, looking at Alois very intently.

Alois held her gaze for a minute, then looked away, flustered. "Ach... nien, I don't think so. I don't really want to believe that Flint killed someone, so..."

"So once again, victory will be mine," Jana said haughtily.

Alois rolled his eyes. "Nicht so schnell," he said, "as it stands, if Flint's not the murderer... wer ist? Who is?" he amended, catching Maria's glare.

"Who cares?" Jana replied, crossing her arms.

"Jana..." Maria sighed.

"We don't have a secondary suspect," Alois continued, playing with his hair, "perhaps one will emerge as we get further into this case... since this seems like it's a complicated one, jedenfalls."

"I suppose you'll let the trial continue in order to solve the question of the stalagmite," Maria said. Alois shrugged.

"And the possibility of the cave not being the actual crime scene has been brought up," Alois said, "even if what Arsenius saw wasn't the actual stabbing itself."

"While we are at it, perhaps we should all gossip about the 'drama' the speleologists kept mentioning," Jana said sarcastically.

"Be grateful to Alois," Maria said irritably, "he's right, you know. He could walk in there and call for a verdict as soon as the recess is over, yet he's more concerned about finding the real killer than victory." She crossed her arms in a huff. "You could learn something from him."

"He could learn something from Mama," Jana scoffed.

"It wouldn't kill you to say danke," Alois said, rolling his eyes. Jana glared at him in return.

"Court will resume shortly!" the bailiff - which was still Ace - reported.

"So what's the plan, Alois?" Maria said even as Jana nodded at the bailiff.

Alois shrugged. "More investigation time should be our goal, I think. At any rate, I didn't have any more witnesses prepared for today - but I can call up Flint if you two would like me to."

Maria nodded. "If you could be so kind." Alois flashed a dazzling grin at her, then left for the courtroom.

"Why do my cases always seem to drag on and on?" Jana sighed.

"Because I won't let you stop at reasonable doubt," Maria said stubbornly, "that's just playing into the hands of the real criminal."

"I do not care," Jana informed her.

* * *

_ July 28, 3:00 PM, Courtroom #2_

"Court is now, again, in session for the trial of Mr. Flint Fey," the Judge said, banging her gavel.

"Mr. Hawthorne would like to apologize for his behavior earlier," Alois said, "it was his first time out of Kurain Village, so he was a little overwhelmed by the defense's badgering." Jana narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, it's quite alright," the Judge said kindly, "it's perfectly understandable, after all." She nodded. "At any rate, a forensics officer has delivered the report on the scientist's pocketknives. Bailiff?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the bailiff said, "the pocketknife that had sustained heat damage was not the same one as the pocketknife that had blood wiped off of it. In fact," he continued, flipping a page of the report, "according to forensics, the heat-damaged knife was far too dull to seriously injure someone with it, pal."

"Thereby confirming that it is impossible for the defendant's knife to be the murder weapon," Jana said, wagging her finger.

"So?" Alois said, shrugging, "stealing one of his co-worker's knives isn't exactly out of the question here."

"That is true," the Judge said, "what's important about the knife is not who owns it, but rather who used it."

"Well put, your Honor," Alois said, smiling, "moving on… I'd like to call the defendant to the stand and give the defense the opportunity to question him about what Mr. Hawthorne saw."

The Judge raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure?" she said, "since the defense has failed to raise any significant objections so far, I could just go ahead and hand down a verdict…"

"That would be premature, your Honor," Alois said before Jana could object, "there are still too many questions about the crime scene that need to be answered."

"…yes," the Judge said, nodding, "very well, Mr. Gavin. Mr. Fey, please take the stand."

Flint moved from the defendant's box to the witness stand, glancing around the court nervously.

"Witness, name and occupation," Alois said coolly.

"Flint Fey… I'm a cartographer. Or was, anyway…."

Alois nodded. "Now, do you deny that what Mr. Hawthorne saw actually happened?" Flint shook his head. "Well, now is your opportunity to explain your side of the story."

"Th… thanks," Flint said, looking down sadly, "okay, so, the morning of the m-murder, Mr. Salt and I planned to get an early start, so we were getting ready, and I noticed - or I guess I remembered, really - that my pocketknife was really, really dull. So I thought I'd ask Mr. Salt to sharpen it for me, or to show me how to sharpen it, or something, so I took it out… and I was trying to show it to him when all of a sudden it flew out of my hands." He started tearing up again. "A-After that, we decided it might be to a better idea to just wait for the rest of the group, so I went back to the base camp." Tears started streaming down his cheeks _again_. "If only I'd stayed with him, maybe he'd still be alive…!"

The court was silent. Someone in the gallery coughed awkwardly.

"…Ms. von Karma," the Judge said, "you may begin your cross-examination."

Jana cleared her throat. Sometimes she couldn't believe how foolish her clients were. "Witness," she said, trying to think of a question, "um… where you and Peter Salt planning on going down into the caves by yourselves?"

"Yes," Flint said, "it's a bad idea to go down with just one person, but two is fine."

"…I thought that you needed at least four people," Maria said, "I'm pretty sure one of your co-workers mentioned something to that effect when we were questioning them…?"

Flint laughed nervously. "That is true," he said, "but we've been doing this for years, so safety's fallen a bit by the wayside… just a bit."

"I see," Jana said, "speaking of safety, when handing pocketknives to other people, you are supposed to fold them up first, are you not?"

"I… maybe," Flint said, laughing nervously again, "I always forget that." Maria sighed deeply.

"Moving on," Jana said, "were you aware that Arsenius was watching you?"

"No," Flint said, "although when the knife suddenly flew out of my hands, I figured he was probably somewhere nearby. I mean, who else could it be?"

Jana nodded and asked, "you mentioned 'if only you stayed with him'. When you left to the base camp, were you alone then?"

"Yes," Flint said.

"Why is this?" Jana said.

"Well… after the knife went flying off," Flint said, twisting his fingers together anxiously, "what I actually wanted to do was find Arsenius and reassure him - usually when he uses his powers outside of the training hall, it's because he's scared or angry - so I thought… well, anyway, I told Mr. Salt I was going to go find my cousin, but he said I should just go back to base camp." He looked down again. "I didn't really want to disobey, so I went back to base camp."

"Leaving Peter Salt alone in front of the cave?" Jana said.

Flint nodded. "I didn't see him again until… well, I didn't even get a proper look at his b-body, so I guess I never saw him again." The bailiff handed him a tissue and he blew his nose.

"Did he give a reason for you to go back to base camp, as opposed to finding your cousin?" Jana said.

"N-Not really," Flint said, "I did think it was weird at the time… since he likes to be around people, I would have thought he'd follow me back to base camp. I didn't realize he _hadn't_ until I got back and he wasn't there."

"Was anyone missing from the camp at this point in time?" Maria asked.

"I dunno," Flint replied, "I'm pretty sure most of the team was already sleeping."

Jana frowned for a minute, then looked at the Judge. "Well, according to the defendant, at least, there was a considerable period of time in which Peter Salt's whereabouts were unaccounted for."

"Of course," Alois said quickly, "that is coming from the defendant, so…"

The Judge frowned. "While it does seem reasonable," she said, "I can't deny the possibility that he's lying to cover for himself…" she shook her head. "Ms. von Karma, do you have any evidence that supports Mr. Fey's version of events?"

Jana hesitated. "It does not contradict what Arsenius told us."

"It's not like he told us very much, all things considered," Alois said.

"It also does not contradict the evidence," Jana continued, "he claimed his knife was dull. It was."

"So?" Alois said, "Your Honor. It's true that the defendant's testimony contains no contradicts, however, it also has no substantial proof to back it up."

The Judge nodded. "Mr. Fey, you are dismissed from the stand." Flint moved back to the defendant's box. "Mr. Gavin, do you have any more witnesses for today?"

"No, your Honor," Alois said.

"Very well," the Judge said, "both the prosecution and the defense clearly need to investigate the crime scene in more detail. We will reconvene tomorrow. Until then, this court is adjourned."

* * *

_July 28, 3:15 PM, Defendant's Lobby #2_

"That was a waste of time," Jana said.

"I agree," Maria sighed, "we're pretty much back to square one - for both sides, really."

Jana frowned. "What?"

"Didn't you notice?" Maria said, exasperated, "the decisive evidence against Flint - think about it. It's easily planted. The actual _case_ against Flint is pretty much just circumstantial, especially since they don't have a motive…" She glanced at Flint, who was silently staring at the painting on the wall. In a few minutes, it would be back to the detention center for him.

"…so Alois was lying when he said he could call for a verdict," Jana said, irritated. Didn't he know it was a disgrace to bluff?

"Well, no," Maria said, pushing the hair out of her eyes, "you heard the Judge - Alois got to her. Motive or no, she was ready to hand down the verdict." She sighed again. "Really, you ought to have brought it up, but you were clearly too caught up in explaining away Arsenius' testimony."

"So why did you not remind me?" Jana demanded, bending her riding crop furiously.

"Because Alois _wasn't_ going to call for a verdict," Maria said dismissively, "I really wonder how seriously he's taking this. Honestly, I think he's just playing with the court. He seemed to have been doing that a bit in your last case against him, too…" She pulled out her notebook and started writing in it. "I suppose he _did_ say that he doesn't want to believe that Flint killed someone."

"That is unimportant," Jana said after a moment, "what _is_ important is that we now have more time to investigate." She crossed her arms. "I have yet to find the perfect piece of evidence to disprove Flint Fey's guilt." Maria rolled her eyes.

* * *

_July 28, 5:30 PM, Kurain Village_

"So… now what?" Maria said.

"…um," Jana said. She wasn't actually sure. A reinvestigation of the crime scene likely wouldn't turn up much.

"We get information out of the other scientists," Watson - who had met up with them at the train station, apparently she had left the gallery following the recess - said.

"They were already told not to talk," Maria said dubiously.

"Then we ask the villagers," Watson said, "maybe there's a rumor spreading around that might point towards the culprit."

"How would…?" Jana said.

"We already know the real motive, remember?" Watson said, putting her hands on her hips, "Revenge. For the suicide of Salt's fiancée."

"Hmm," Maria said, putting a hand to her mouth, "personally, I think you're jumping to conclusions, Wat." Watson shrugged. "But I guess you two should go do that. I'll go talk to Oliver - if Wat's bracelet picked something up, so will my magatama." She made a quick note in her notebook. "I'll come find you once I figure out what he saw."

"And I suppose you will tell Alois what he saw, too," Jana said drily.

"If it's relevant to the case, of course I will," Maria replied, frowning, then put her notebook back and walked off towards Pearl Fey's house.

"Oh, there you are!" someone called, and Mairwen ran up to them. "Sorry I'm late."

"Late?" Jana said.

"I take it you're planning on joining our investigation again," Watson said.

Mairwen nodded energetically. "Don't get me wrong, I _love_ Kurain Village, but it gets so _boring_ around here sometimes." She frowned. "Besides, we've gotta catch the real killer - we can't just have a murderer wandering around like this."

"Unless, I suppose, said murderer has already been arrested and pardoned," Jana said sarcastically.

"Hey. Uncle Diego's different, okay?"

"What were you up to, anyway?" Watson asked as the three started heading towards the scientists' base camp.

"Dad called," Mairwen said cheerfully, "he wanted to tell me about Gion Matsuri."

"…Gion what now?" Watson said, putting one hand up to her face.

"It's a festival in Kyoto - Dad's there on a business trip right now and he thought I'd want to hear about it," Mairwen explained, "since there was a really cool procession a few days ago. He said he e-mailed me pictures and was calling to see if I got them. I didn't," she added, her smile faltering a bit.

"Oh, Kyoto, huh?" Watson said, sounding only politely interested, "when's he coming back?"

"Never," Mairwen said flatly.

"…n-never?" Watson said, startled. Jana raised an eyebrow, too. She wasn't exactly up-to-date on Fey family politics.

"Dad's always been off on some business trip or another for almost as long as I can remember," Mairwen said, sounding sad but looking carefully disaffected, "I haven't seen him in years, but he does call every so often." She paused, then added, "honestly, I think the whole 'business trip' thing is just an excuse - I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad actually split up ages ago." She sighed deeply. "I'm sure Dad cares about me, but I kind of doubt he ever _really_ cared about Mom… don't tell Aunt Pearly, though."

"I… see," Watson said, "I get it, though. My parents split up, too…"

"My parents are still together," Jana said, smirking, "their 25th anniversary is in about a month." Both Watson and Mairwen stared at her for a minute, before glancing at each other and frowning.

"You're a jerk, I hope you know that," Mairwen said, pouting.

"Ignore her," Watson said, "hey, Tuck's not planning on joining us today, too, is he?"

"I dunno," Mairwen said, scanning the base camp which they had just arrived at, "wait, there he is!" she said, pointing.

Alechi looked up from where he had been searching through a foot chest. "Oh, it's y'all," he said, grinning and standing up. "How did court go? I was gonna go watch, but I overslept and didn't catch the train in time."

"Trial has been extended another day," Jana said.

"Oh… well, I guess that's good," Alechi said, brushing the dust off his hands, "is it, Wat?"

"Yeah," Watson said, shrugging, "more time to investigate."

"Ain't the official channels still closed to you?" Alechi said.

Watson nodded. "We were hoping to get some information from some of your co-workers. Somehow."

"Ah, I see," Alechi said, "well… we were told not to talk to the defense, but I suppose I'm already breaking that, ain't I?"

"You might as well tell us everything you know," Jana said.

Alechi gave her an irritated look, then smiled at Watson. "She has a point. I'm not an expert on much outside geology, but ask away."

Jana paused before asking her first question. "You are sure that the real killer is one of the speleologists, correct?"

"Yep," Alechi said.

"Why is this?"

Alechi hesitated. "Well… I know we're all trying to act like we get along just swell, but… I'm sure you've already figured this out, but we really don't."

"How so?" Watson said.

"Ah," Alechi said, scratching the back of his neck anxiously, "well, for one thing… Ms. Go isn't as nice as she pretends to be. She's really hard on us… and if you've heard about our various safety violations from Flint already, well, they're her fault."

"She doesn't care about safety?" Mairwen said, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"…I wouldn't really put it that way," Alechi said, "I think it'd be more accurate to say she thinks safety is a waste of time. She's always saying that it just slows us down, and that anyone dumb enough to get injured in the cave never deserved to be on the team in the first place."

"Harsh," Watson said.

"Anything else?" Jana said.

Alechi rubbed his chin, thinking. "Well, I've heard that Peter once drove his fiancée to suicide, but for the life of me I can't remember who I heard it _from_ - one of my co-workers, while they were drunk, I think. But I'm not sure." He smiled apologetically. "It's possible I was a liiiittle bit drunk too." He apparently noticed Watson's disapproving look and cleared his throat sheepishly before continuing. "Let's see. I think I already told you that Flint knew Kitty from school - and I know that Kitty and Sen knew each other from before the team banded together, but I'm not sure from where. _They_ don't get along, but then again Sen doesn't really get along with anyone." He sighed. "He's a real creep, so being one of four men on a team of nine doesn't really go well."

"That is hardly a majority-female team," Jana pointed.

"He can't be trusted around one woman, let alone five," Alechi said, sounding deeply offended, "And he hates all the other men on the team because none of us approve of his behavior. I mean, Flint and I were both raised to respect women to the ends of the Earth, and Peter was… well, a grouchy old man, honestly, but not a misogynist."

"…that's funny, though," Watson said, "I thought Kitaki got along with the rest of the team."

"With the exception of Sen, she does," Alechi said, "she's big on teamwork."

"What else?" Jana said, "Did anyone dislike Peter Salt in particular?"

"Hana doesn't like me," Alechi said, "or Shannon. But I think she liked Peter." He rubbed his chin again. "She also doesn't like Mary, but she and Shannon agree on that. Mary is right rude to _everyone_ on the team, but she has Sen wrapped around her little finger - she's a real man-eater," he added, shuddering. "Anyway, I think she knew Hana from before the team got together. And everyone knew Ms. Go somehow before then - except for Flint. He joined because of Kitty."

"How did you know Maren Go?" Jana said.

"One of my cousins went to college with her," Alechi said, shrugging, "I met her once when she visited, and a few months later she apparently recalled my interest in geology and asked if I wanted to come to California with her."

"I see," Jana said.

"What is Doah's opinion of Salt?" Watson said, counting on her fingers.

"And for that matter, what is yours?" Jana said, eyeing Alechi suspiciously.

"Shannon isn't an easy person to get along with," Alechi said, "honestly, the only person that she didn't try to butt heads with was Ms. Go - although some people are better at putting up with that sort of behavior than others, I guess." He paused. "Kitty admires hostility, I think, and some of Flint's siblings are really… awful people," he said bluntly, "so it's not that strange that they both get on fine with most of the team."

"And as for you?" Jana pressed.

"I… well," Alechi said, looking away, "I'm not one to pick fights or hold grudges, but _something_ about Peter just rubbed me the wrong way. Y'all know what I'm talking about?"

Watson nodded, but Mairwen and Jana both frowned.

"Hang on," Mairwen said, "I'm confused. I've lost track of who hates who."

"Kitty Kitaki, Flint Fey, and Hana Lavatob all got along with Peter Salt," Jana said, toying with her riding crop in thought, "while Maren Go, Sen Ehkha, Mary Mec, Shannon Doah, and Tuck Alechi did not."

"Y-Yeah," Alechi said, a single bead of sweat trickling down his face, "that's about right."

"And what was Salt's reaction to the majority of the team disliking him?" Watson said.

"Peter was a pretty simple guy - or at least that's how he looked, anyway," Alechi said, "so he didn't like anyone who didn't like him. In fact," he added, crossing his arms and looking down, "he was right mean to anyone who didn't like him, even me, though I always try to be polite to everyone."

Watson sighed and threw a glare at Jana. "The world could use more people like you, Tuck." Alechi grinned at that.

"…did anyone on the team have a more specific motive for killing Peter Salt, beyond simply disliking him?" Jana said. Alechi shrugged.

"As I said, Mary and Shannon don't get along with him simply because they ain't very nice people," he said, "and I, personally, ain't entirely sure why I don't like him. And Sen doesn't like him because he didn't stand for Sen harassing women."

"And Maren Go disliked him because…?" Jana prompted. Alechi shrugged again.

"She's hard on us, but it isn't really that she doesn't like us," he said, putting his hand behind his head sheepishly, "although sometimes I got the impression that she really hated Peter for some reason."

"Why?" Watson said.

"Hey, if I knew, I'd've told you already," Alechi said defensively, "I don't know the whole story."

"Maybe she holds a grudge?" Mairwen said.

"Maybe," Alechi said, "but she sure doesn't seem like the type to hang onto the past like that."

"Well, is there anyone else whom Maren Go hated in particular?" Jana said.

"Yeah," Alechi said, "Flint. …and I think Mary."

"Any ideas why?" Watson asked again.

"Well, I'm pretty sure she doesn't like Flint because she didn't know him when he first joined the team," Alechi said, "because she was extra mean to Kitty for the longest time, until she realized that we needed Flint in order to gain access to Kurain Caverns. And I think she just doesn't like Mary because how she conducts herself is pretty unprofessional. I guess."

"I don't know," Watson said dubiously, "I get the feeling that we need to have a talk with both Mec and Doah. And maybe Ehkha, too."

"Tuck Alechi, do you know where they are?" Jana said.

"Hmm… I could've sworn I saw Mary and Shannon around here somewhere. As for where Sen is, well, my bet is that if he's met Ms. Fey-Armando by now, he's following her around because she's got big ol'-" he cut himself off, embarrassed, when he caught sight of Watson's irritated expression. "You know."

_They have known each other for two days_, Jana thought, exasperated, _and as if making goo-goo eyes at each other wasn't bad enough…!_

"Well," Mairwen said, "if Mr. Ehkha wants to harass Mystic Maria, he's got another thing comin'!"

"What, one of Pearl Fey's gallant sons will come to their second cousin's aid?" Jana said, crossing her arms and tilting her head.

"Probably," Mairwen said, "but I meant more along the lines of, she'd thwack him with her umbrella. I don't even know where she pulls it out from!"

"…right," Watson said, "so I guess the first order of business is to go find Mec and Doah."

Mec wasn't hard to find. The little troupe ran into her almost as soon as they left the room. She just suddenly appeared in the form of a voluptuous, dark-skinned woman with very short blackish-green hair and narrow dark green eyes dressed in a pastel green article of clothing that could only be described as a "too-tight, too-low-cut catsuit". Jana wondered if she wore that when exploring the cave. Especially those high heels.

"You. Tuckie. Sweetheart," she said in a voice that vaguely reminded Jana of Dahlia, looking flustered and irritated, "where is Sen?!"

"I don't know, Mary," Alechi said, immediately stepping back so that Watson was between him and Mec.

She stopped short and gave Jana and Watson the once-over. "Who're these women?" she said with a dismissive expression, putting one hand on her hip.

Watson sighed and introduced Jana, then herself. "They're Flint's lawyers," Mairwen explained cheerfully, "…well, Jana's Flint's lawyer anyway. Watson is her-"

"Babysitter," Watson said. Jana hit her with her riding crop.

"…o-kaaaay then," Mec said, "that's nice. Tuckie, babe, help me find Sen, will you?"

"Um, I haven't seen him," Alechi said, "I've been with Wat this whole time, really-"

Mec turned back to Watson with a tight-lipped frowned. "Good luck with him," she said sweetly, "he _acts_ all innocent, but he-"

"Mary, please!" Alechi suddenly yelled, "we're trying to investigate a murder here!"

Mec rolled her eyes. "I don't care," she informed them, "I never cared for Pete anyway. Glad he's dead, in fact - never did anything but bother me."

"Regardless, we would like to ask you a few questions," Jana said.

"Whatever," Mec sighed, "although that _cute_ little prosecutor already told me to keep my mouth shut - pfeh. I'd_ love_ to get my hands on him and show him-"

Jana recoiled. "P-Please do not talk about Alois that way."

"He's only sixteen," Watson said drily.

"Hm," Mec said thoughtfully, "well, that's old enough in most states."

"Mary, _please_," Alechi said, putting his face in his hands.

"Fine, fine," Mec grouched, "so what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"We would like to know the nature of your relationship with Peter Salt," Jana said.

Mec stared at her for a minute, then started laughing. "I think you're a little too young to be asking questions like that."

"Mary!" Alechi said reproachfully, "don't tell me-"

"I'm _kidding_," Mec growled, "you dip. And I'm sure you probably already told them everything you could, didn't you?"

"So, I take it it's true that you didn't like Salt?" Watson said.

Mec glared at her for a minute. "I already said as much, didn't I?" She paused, then her eyes went wide. "Wait a minute. You aren't considering me a suspect - are you?"

"No, no," Watson said immediately, "of course not, we're just-"

"Because everyone knows that Flinty's the one that killed him," Mec said, glancing at Alechi.

"No, he didn't!" Alechi protested.

"Mary Mec," Jana said sharply, "what is your reason for thinking that?"

"What. The police arrested him, didn't they?" Mec said, "I've seen those cops," she added with a wicked grin.

"…any reasons _beside_ your attraction the police officers?" Jana said, her fingers digging into her bicep.

Mec shrugged. "I don't remember what exactly happened when we found the body, but I did hear about it afterwards. The more I think about it, the more sure I am that Flinty was the last one out of the cave when Kitaki started running."

"So you think he cut the body down as the rest of the group was running back topside?" Alechi said.

"That seems likely, right?" Mec said.

"Was there anything strange that happened as you were going down into the cave?" Jana said.

Mec scratched the back of her neck for a moment, deep in thought. "Yeah, maybe," she said slowly, "I know Kitaki mentioned it, but… I could've sworn that Go wasn't in our initial party."

"Wait, does that mean that Ms. Go was already in the cave when you went down?" Mairwen said.

Mec sneered. "Don't be stupid."

"Don't talk like that to the future Master," Mairwen snapped.

"This is a trainwreck," Watson muttered. Jana nodded. She had decided: she did _not_ like dealing with anyone more belligerent than her. Watson cleared her throat loudly. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Mec. We'll be going now."

"Oh?" Mec said, raising one eyebrow, "and what are you planning on doing now?"

"We're gonna go interrogate Ms. Doah now," Mairwen said.

Mec snorted. "Have fun with that." She turned her gaze to Alechi. "Oh, Tuckie, _do_ visit me later tonight, won't you?" she said with a wink.

"We're going now," Watson growled, grabbing Alechi's arm and marching off. Jana and Mairwen exchanged glances - Jana exasperated and Mairwen entertained. They followed Watson and Alechi as Mec started laughing.

"Wat, there's no need to be so… territorial," Alechi was muttering when Jana and Mairwen joined them in some arbitrary hallway.

"I'm not being territorial," Watson snapped, "we have work to do."

Alechi chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I like to help - but _y'all_ have work to do. I could've stayed with Mary if I wanted."

"But you didn't want to," Watson said through gritted teeth.

"True," was all Alechi said.

"Two days," Mairwen sighed, "is apparently all it takes for romance to blossom in Kurain Caverns, huh?" Jana sniggered.

"Shut up," Watson growled as Alechi looked away awkwardly. They were both blushing, which only fueled Jana and Mairwen's amusement. "You're one to talk, Jana," Watson said, "you and Oli-"

"Do not finish that sentence," Jana said, no longer finding this funny. "Come on. We have work to do."

"Fine, fine," Watson sighed, "just direct your stupid 'Kristoph Gavin glare' elsewhere."

They found Doah out behind the base camp, where she was silently placing rocks in a circle. She was a large woman in all respects, and was apparently fond of very dark colors - in fact, if it weren't for the pink tint to her skin, Jana would have considered her monochromatic.

"H-Hello, Shannon," Alechi said was obvious false cheerfulness, "making us a new fire pit?"

Doah only looked up at the group without saying anything, then turned back to her stones.

"What happened to your old one?" Mairwen asked Alechi.

"The police were wondering if maybe someone had burned evidence in it, so they confiscated it," Alechi replied.

Silence fell over the little backyard. Jana cleared her throat to break it.

"You are Shannon Doah, correct?" she said, pointing her riding crop towards Doah. Doah responded by making a rude hand gesture. Jana recoiled - what was _wrong_ with these scientists? Why were they all so strange?!

"Let me handle this," Alechi said, "hey, Shannon, you know how they arrested Flint, right?"

Doah slowly looked up at Alechi and stared at him for a long moment before nodding.

"Well, do you think that Flint was the one who killed Peter?" Alechi said.

Doah stared at him for another long moment, then stood up. "Nay, there's nowt 'bout 'im tha' seems a killer," she said in a thick Yorkshire accent - which caught Jana a little bit off-guard.

"Well, this is Jana von Karma-Gavin, she's his lawyer," Alechi said brightly, gesturing towards Jana, "and this is Watson Justice, her assistant. Mystic Mairwen and I are helping with their investigation."

Doah nodded. "Nah then, questions t' ax missen, 'as-ta?" she said, cracking her knuckles.

Jana, who refused to admit that she was somewhat intimidated, glanced at Alechi. This was another case of not understanding what some crazy woman was saying, anyway.

"Of course," Alechi said, "we were just wondering why exactly you didn't like Peter…?"

Doah scowled. "Ah'm not bein' suspected, surely?"

"Oh, no!" Alechi said a little too quickly, waving his hands. Doah gave him a long look before answering.

"Peter Salt were a soft gimmer. Course ah dinnae like 'im."

"So he never did anything to wrong you?" Jana said, guessing that Doah's answer had amounted to "I just didn't", "You did not hold a grudge against him for any reason?"

"Aye," Doah said, "'e were a raight nasty offcumden, but 'e nivver did nowt in partic'lar t' missen."

"So you had no reason to kill him?" Alechi said, catching his companions' confused looks, "Whatsoever?"

"Gerr away," Doah growled, "ah durns't kill someone or summat like tha'." She looked away. "Aye, ah dinnae like 'im, but it were in t' same way ah dinnae like most a t' team."

"Who exactly _do_ you like?" Watson ventured.

Doah glared at her for a minute before saying slowly, "ah like Alechi, 'e's raight kind t' missen. Same wi' Fey, even if 'e is proper gormless bairn. And ah like Kitaki, too, t' flibberty gibbet." She sighed.

"So, if - big if," Alechi said quickly, "you were to kill someone, you wouldn't frame it on any of us three?"

"Nay," was all Doah said.

"O-Okay, I think that's all we had to ask," Alechi said, and began shepherding the rest of the investigation team back into the base camp, "have fun with your fire pit, Shannon!"

"What is _her_ problem?" Watson said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I don't know," Alechi said fervently, "it took me eight months to figure out what she was saying most of the time."

"She scares me," Mairwen said.

"Yeah," Watson said.

"Nothing scares me," Jana said.

"Then stop clutching your riding crop like that," Watson replied, holding her arm just above her bracelet. Jana hit her.

"Let's just go find Sen now, ladies," Alechi said exasperatedly.

It took them a while to find Ehkha, but they did eventually find him loitering near Pearl Fey's house, cradling his face in one hand and look extremely annoyed. He was a lanky, slightly feminine-looking man with a handsome face that featured high cheekbones, thick-rimmed glasses and stubble. His shoulder-length hair was a pleasant auburn color and his slanted eyes were a vivid green. "Hey, Alechi," Ehkha said sourly, catching sight of the approaching group, "Mystic Mairwen…" he added, in a much sweeter tone, "and who are these two cuties with you?"

Watson once again introduced themselves, this time being sure to include the fact that Jana was fourteen. Ehkha frowned at this.

"And, Sen," Alechi said warningly, "we're trying to conduct a murder investigation here. I'd appreciate if you could keep your usual comments to yourself."

"Easier said than done," Ehkha sneered, "_I'm_ not the one who thought to bring some choice chicks like this to a connoisseur of beauty like me." He turned and leered at Watson. "So, babe, what was your name again? Watson? Can I call you Wattie?"

"No," Watson said flatly. Alechi looked like he was positively going to hit Ehkha.

"So, we were wondering about how you hated Mr. Salt, or something," Mairwen said quickly.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Ehkha said sweetly, "that detective with the great legs already told me to shut up… especially since I'm a witness in the trial tomorrow. Ha!"

"Aw," Mairwen said, just as sweetly, "can't you make an exception for us? Pretty please?"

"You're a little too flat-chested to be making requests like that," Ehkha laughed. Now _Mairwen_ looked like she was positively going to hit him.

"Let's just forget this guy," Watson muttered, turning to the rest of the investigation team. Mairwen nodded.

"I - I don't know," Alechi whispered, "he just said he's going to be a witness in court tomorrow. Don't y'all need to hear what he has to say beforehand?"

"It would be helpful," Jana said.

"I don't want to deal with him," Mairwen said, frowning. Watson nodded fervently.

"Yeah, me neither," Alechi sighed, "although if we could get him on our side, he'll definitely tell us anything y'all need."

"…well, I can see how we can get him on our side," Watson grumbled.

Mairwen put a finger to her mouth, thinking. "Wait, I have idea!" she said suddenly, causing Ehkha to glance over at their little strategy meeting, although he didn't say anything. Mairwen closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, then opened them again, clearly disappointed. "I guess someone else is already channeling Aunt Mia." She sighed irritably. "That _always_ happens whenever Mystic Maria is in town."

"Isn't Maria supposed to be talking to Oliver?" Watson said.

Mairwen shrugged. "I bet she got Aunt Mia to help her. I mean, she is Oliver's favorite aunt, I think."

"…so, back to square one?" Alechi said.

"Not necessarily," Mairwen said, back to being chipper, "Wat. Take off your lab coat."

"W-What?!" Watson and Alechi said at the same time.

"Excellent idea," Jana said.

"Jana, no!" Watson groaned.

"What?" Jana said, "I have Maya Valerie do something similar all the time. The same principle applies here, right?" The other three stared at her, aghast. "…what?"

"Valerie's _twelve_," Mairwen said.

"Yes, and no one can ignore an earnest entreaty from a tearful twelve-year-old. Something about her apparently activates the parenting instinct," Jana said, "what is the matter with that?"

"Oh," Alechi said, as clearly relieved as Watson and Mairwen were, "ohhhh. I thought you meant… nevermind." Jana tilted her head, confused.

"Well, if it works for them… sort of… it'll work for us," Mairwen said brightly, "come on, Wat. It's not like you actually have to touch him or anything-"

"This is disturbing," Watson commented.

"I'm against it," Alechi said.

"-just take off your lab coat and go talk to him!" Mairwen said, "It's foolproof!"

"No, it's not!" Watson snapped, holding her lab coat shut.

"Come on, Watson Justice," Jana said, "what are you wearing under there, anyway? I have never seen you without it…"

"And you need his testimony, right?" Mairwen said, "so you can figure out how to circumvent it?"

Watson gave Mairwen and Jana a troubled look, then sighed deeply and glanced at Alechi.

"We could always, um, wait for it to come up in court?" Alechi said.

"Let's just get this over with," Watson growled, then shrugged out of her lab coat and handed it to Alechi, who suddenly appeared to lose higher brain function. Jana already knew about the extremely short running shorts, although they were much more noticeable now that there was no coat to cover her legs instead, but what Jana had always assumed was some sort of shirt was actually a skin-tight black leotard. Watson stalked over to Ehkha, who looked extremely pleased at this new development.

"…wh… what," Alechi said, tearing his eyes away from Watson to look at the lab coat he was holding.

"Ooh, good," Ehkha was saying, "I love the 'dancer' look - you certainly have the body for it." Watson didn't say anything, only glaring at him. "And I like 'em feisty," Ehkha said, although he didn't attempt to touch Watson.

"What's going on," Alechi said, completely dumbfounded.

"Start questioning him, Wat!" Mairwen called.

"M-Mr. Ehkha," Watson began, clearly fighting embarrassment.

"Call me Sen, baby," Ehkha said.

"Sen, I have a few questions for you," Watson said.

"Fire away," Ehkha said, spreading his arms and leering.

"Lech," Jana muttered.

"Ms. von Karma-Gavin, if I kill him after this, will you defend me?" Alechi said.

"I think you could argue justifiable homicide," Mairwen said. Jana scoffed.

"First," Watson was saying, "we've heard that you didn't like Salt very much-"

"Nope," Ehkha said, "he was always getting on my case about me flirting with the ladies. Apparently it's 'disrespectful' or something stupid like that."

"…okay," Watson said, "um, was there a woman in particular that he hated you hara- I mean, hitting on?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Ehkha said, "Maren. Course… she's pretty frigid anyway, but I'm nothing if not persistent."

"Was there something going on between Go and Salt?" Watson said, apparently forgetting her discomfort entirely.

"Well, I don't actually know, honey," Ehkha said, scratching his chin, "I always got the impression that they had something in the past… before the team came together. If that's true, it must've been Maren who split it off, though. She hated him, but I really don't think Salt hated her."

"Oh?" Watson said, "I've heard that Salt was rude to anyone who didn't like him, whether they acted like it or not."

"He was," Ehkha said, "Maren was the exception. It was funny - sometimes she'd be particularly vicious to him, sometimes she'd be almost nice, which was weird for her. But Salt always acted like he owed her for something."

"Interesting," Watson said, "anything else you have to tell us about that?"

"Not really," Ehkha said, "except that if you're affiliated with Miss Boobs-and-Umbrella in there," he jerked a thumb back towards Pearl Fey's house, "tell her not to hit innocent people like that, will you? I was just having a little fun. Totally harmless."

"…right," Watson said drily, "I'll be sure to tell her that. Now, what was this you said about testifying in court tomorrow?"

"Oh, it's not actually anything major," Ehkha said, "it's just about what Fey apparently said about him being in the base camp between three and five in the morning the day of the crime."

"Five AM is when Kitaki, Lavatob, Mec, Go, and Flint went down into the cave, then?" Watson said.

"It is also around the time of death according to the autopsy report," Jana called.

"Yep," Ehkha said, "but here's the funny thing about that - Fey wasn't in the base camp between three and five."

"He wasn't?" Watson said, stunned.

"It's impossible," Ehkha said, "for one thing, if he'd come back at three, I would have seen him since I sleep right next to the entrance."

"Are there no other routes he could take to get into the base camp?" Watson said. Ehkha shook his head.

"Also," he said, "I was looking for him for those two hours. If he was there like he claimed, I definitely would have found him. He just… wasn't there."

Watson was quiet for a minute, silently fiddling with her bracelet. Jana wondered if Ehkha was lying or not. "Well, it looks like we need to have a talk with Go," Watson said slowly, "do you know where she is?"

"I think she left Kurain Village already," Ehkha said, "since she's also a witness in court tomorrow."

"I see," Watson said, "well, Mr. Ehkha, thank you for your time." She turned around to walk back towards Alechi, Jana, and Mairwen.

"I told you to call me Sen," Ehkha said brightly, then slapped Watson's butt.

And Watson kicked him in the face. Hard. Ehkha went flying.

"Wow," Alechi said, clapping, as Watson stalked back over to the rest of the investigation team, "I've wanted to do that for years."

"I hope he learned his lesson," Watson growled, snatching her lab coat back from Alechi and putting it back on quickly.

"So, was Sen Ehkha lying?" Jana asked. Watson shook her head.

"Maybe exaggerating a bit, but no. It's weird," Watson said, "I wonder what Flint was doing for those two hours, if he wasn't in the base camp?"

"We will have to go ask him," Jana said.

"And I don't suppose you'll get a chance to find out what Go's going to say before trial tomorrow," Watson said.

"Well, maybe we should go and see if Mystic Maria's gotten anything out of Oliver yet," Mairwen said.

Watson glanced back at Pearl Fey's house with a grimace. "Do we have to?"

Alechi walked over and nudged Ehkha, who was lying on the ground, with his foot. "He's out cold," he reported.

"…I'm pretty sure that legally qualifies as assault," Mairwen said.

"Jana, if anyone arrests me over this, defend me," Watson said. _For the love of…_ Jana thought.

Maria and Oliver - and Mia Fey being channeled by one of Pearl's daughters, a blonde one with a pixie cut - were found in Oliver's bedroom, which had blue walls, four beds (two of which were actually a bunkbed), two dressers and three bookshelves, one of which was filled with thick legal tomes. Oliver was sitting on his bed, looking resolutely at his lap, while both Maria and Mia looked agitated. "Hello, Mairwen, Jana, Watson," Mia said as they walked in the room, "and… you're one of the scientists, right?"

"Name's Tuck Alechi, ma'am," Alechi said, "you must be Mystic Mairwen's aunt." Mia nodded and turned back to Oliver.

"H-Hi, Jana," Oliver said, not looking up.

"How's it going over here?" Watson said.

Maria's frown deepened. "Five pysche-locks, and we've only broken one so far."

"Oh," Watson said, surprised, "it's been a couple hours, though…!"

"I know," Maria said, "I underestimated how stubborn Oliver is." She glanced at Jana. "Did you find anything out from the scientists?" Jana summarized everything they had learned.

"Hm," Mia said, "Oliver, what you saw… did it have anything to do with what Ehkha said about Flint not being at the base camp?" Oliver shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"I wasn't anywhere near base camp at the time," Oliver said.

"What _were_ you able to find out?" Watson said.

"We got him to admit that he saw _something_," Maria explained, "and he let slip that _someone_ told him not to tell."

"Someone being…?" Jana said.

"We don't know," Maria said, "except that it wasn't anyone with the police - so far, we're the only ones who know that he saw anything."

"Someone must be intimidating him into silence," Mairwen said. Oliver glanced at her nervously.

"The trouble is, until we find out who, I don't think he'll tell us anything," Mia said.

"Sorry," Oliver said.

"Well, maybe in trial tomorrow we'll get some information to use against him," Maria sighed, checking the clock on Oliver's bedside table, "and the detention center's already closed. Looks like we'll have to ask Flint what was going on for those two hours before court tomorrow."

"So we're just going to wrap up here?" Watson said.

"We might as well," Jana said, glaring at Oliver.

"Okay, bye then," Oliver said, jumping up and herding everyone else out of his room, after which he slammed the door behind them. It locked with a _click_ and silence fell over the hallway.

"…well that was suspicious," Mairwen said.

"If someone's threatening him, I hope they know Pearly will not let them get away with it," Mia said.

"It's probably the real killer," Alechi said.

"We'll catch them," Maria assured her mother, who gave Jana a dubious look.

"What?" Jana said defensively.

"Well, we should probably get going now," Maria said, jotting something down in her notebook, then hugging her mother.

"Be sure to tell Diego and Miguel to actually _call_ sometime," Mia said.

"Tuck, do you want to watch the trial from the gallery with me tomorrow?" Watson said.

Alechi grinned sheepishly. "I'll set my alarm tonight."

Mairwen turned to Jana. "Can I kiss you? Platonically, I mean. Everyone else seems to be having a moment of some sort, sooo…"

"No," Jana deadpanned.

* * *

_July 28, 8:45 PM, Los Angeles-Kurain Village Train_

Jana, Maria, and Watson had run into Alois and Detective Noir at the train station, although Detective Noir was apparently only keeping an eye on Alois until the train came, because she left back to Kurain Village as soon as Jana and company showed up.

"Why did you need Detective Noir to keep an eye on you, anyway?" Watson said as the four of them rode back to Los Angeles in the same train car.

Alois shrugged. "Mama and Papa don't like me being by myself in public."

"Why is th- oh," Watson said, catching Jana's glare. Alois glanced at Jana, clearly confused. Maria started writing in her notebook again.

"So what are you planning for court tomorrow?" Jana said.

"Netter Versuch," Alois said, rolling his eyes, "but I'm not telling you."

"We already know two of your witnesses," Jana taunted.

"That's nice," Alois yawned, "I heard Wat seduced one of them, then knocked him out?"

"That's not _quite_ how it went," Watson grumbled.

"What hit him in the face then?" Alois said.

"Um," Watson said, "a… bird… just flew out of nowhere and smacked upside the head."

"A shoe-shaped bird, vielleicht?" Alois said.

"…yes," Watson said, "it was very strange."

"Ich wette," Alois said, "you know, the last thing he remembered was you taking off your lab coat. What exactly did he _tell_ you?"

"Stuff," Watson said.

"Very helpful."

Watson frowned. "I'm sure he's already told you the exact same things he told us."

"It was a dirty trick nonetheless," Alois sighed, eyeing Jana.

"It was Mairwen Fey's idea," Jana said.

Alois was silent for a moment. "Huh. I never took her to be that kind of girl."

"And you thought I was?" Jana said, hitting him with her riding crop.

"Oh, _behave_," Maria said.


	6. Subterranean Turnabout, Part III

_July 29, 9:50 AM, Defendant's Lobby #2_

"Flint Fey, explain yourself."

"What?"

"One of the witnesses today will tell the court about how, when you went back to the base camp after Arsenius flung your knife into the fire pit, you didn't actually go to the base camp," Maria explained, "why is this?"

"…um," Flint said, "maybe he's lying?"

"Wat said that he wasn't," Maria said.

"Well," Flint said, scratching behind his ear nervously, "I _did_ go to base camp… sort of…."

"Sort of?" Jana said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not immediately," Flint said sheepishly, "and… when I did, I went to the backyard, and I didn't go through the house to do it."

"What?" Maria said.

"I climbed over the fence," Flint said.

"Why?" Jana asked.

"Th… there was someone in the house that I wanted to avoid," Flint said, looking away.

"Was it Sen Ehkha?" Jana said, "he mentioned he was looking for you."

"I'm not at liberty to say," Flint said, still not meeting Jana's or Maria's eyes. Jana groaned loudly.

* * *

_July 29, 10:00 AM, Courtroom #2_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Flint Fey."

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor."

"The defense is ready, your Honor."

"Now, yesterday, we still had yet to resolve the question of the crime scene," the Judge said, "Mr. Gavin. Do you have anything to tell us?"

"Yes, your Honor," Alois said, "I'd like to summon the detective in charge of this case." The Judge nodded. "The prosecution calls Detective Noir to the stand." Detective Noir coolly walked up to the witness stand. "Witness, name and occupation."

"Blanche Noir, elbow snooper, high pillow of the gumshoeing currently going on at Kurain Caverns."

_…what?_ Jana thought, _I give up._

"Witness, please explain the current theory as to the crime scene," Alois said.

Detective Noir pulled out a cross-section of the cave, which was criss-crossed with lines. "This is how we're pretty sure the ropes were set up," she said, "clearly, it would have taken some time to set it up like this, so the perp must have gone down into the cave _before_ the little jaunt where the stiff was discovered. However," she added, "judging by the fact that there was no device of any sort recovered, in addition to the facts that the rope was cut with the same chiv that killed the victim and that the rope was removed, the person who let the stiff down onto the stalagmite could only have been one of the scientists in the group that went down when the stiff was discovered."

"Which, the court will recall," Alois said, "the defendant was."

"I see," said the Judge, "very well, Ms. von Karma, you may begin your cross-examination."

Jana nodded, thinking. The whole explanation had only boiled down to the fact that whoever had moved the body was one of the people who had been with Kitaki when she had discovered the body, so it wasn't a particular blow against her case. Still, she might as well press Detective Noir a bit and find out if Alois was setting traps again. "Witness," she said, "was there anything in particular about this setup that directs suspicion towards a certain person?"

Detective Noir hesitated. "No," she said, "although it does remove suspicion against a few of the other scientists." She glanced at Alois; the corner of his mouth twitched in a momentary smirk.

Jana raised an eyebrow. "The police were directing suspicion against other members of the speleology team?"

"A perfect investigation requires investigation from all angles," Alois quipped. Jana frowned. Something about the fact that he was quoting their mother despite the fact that he had refused to study under her seemed… wrong, somehow.

"However," Detective Noir said, "the strongest case is still against the defendant."

"Hm," Jana said, "yesterday, the prosecution presented the theory that the actual crime scene was elsewhere, but the body was carried into the cave, where the knife was pulled out. Do you still stand by this?"

"I can't say at this time," Alois said, his soft smile faltering a little, "although judging by the bloodstains on the ground, it does seem apparent that wherever the victim was stabbed, the knife was not removed from the body until it had already been hoisted up into the air."

"So, it is possible that the killer lured the victim down into the cave?" Jana said.

"That does seem like the easiest thing for the killer to do," Alois said.

"That also doesn't make sense," Maria said, "this is starting to look more and more premeditated. Surely Mr. Salt would have sensed some animosity towards him and have refused to go down into the cave with just the killer."

"Clearly the killer doesn't like to do things easily," Alois said drily, "considering the state of the crime scene. They clearly value form over function…"

Jana blinked. "You will not refute the idea that this crime was premeditated?" she said, "even if the victim's actions may make no sense if that were so?"

Alois smirked. "Oh," he said, "this crime was definitely premeditated."

"What?" said Jana and Maria at the same time the Judge did.

"Little sister, you never asked how exactly the police came to the conclusion that the ropes were set up like _that_," Alois said lightly, "Oh, Detective Noir…?"

Detective Noir nodded and pulled out a paper that looked similar to the diagram that she had just shown the court, except nothing was labelled, and it was in an evidence bag. "We found this cheesed in the defendant's dump." She pointed at a stick figure amidst the lines just over the stalagmite. "See, there's even the goose he had the curse on."

"…um," Jana said, then removed her hands from her ears. _Crap_. "Was it definitely drawn by Flint Fey?"

"We can't necessarily prove that, since there's no handwriting to analyze," Alois said, "but the cross-section that it was drawn on could only have been made by the defendant or the victim himself - the cartographers of the group."

"How do we know that the victim did not draw it?" Jana said indignantly.

"More to the point," Maria said, "once the cross-section was drawn, anybody could have added the plans for the murder over it."

"I acknowledge that is a possibility," Alois said, "but that doesn't change the fact that we found it in the defendant's room - in a place where he typically hid important documents."

"Did the other speleologists know about this place?" Jana said.

"We gave all of the scientists the third over this, little jane," Detective Noir said, "not a single one of them seemed to be wise about it."

"They could have been lying!" Jana protested.

"Can you prove that?" Alois said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Can you prove that they weren't?" Jana demanded.

The Judge sighed deeply. "The fact that the murder plans were found in the defendant's room will be noted by the court with a grain of salt," she said.

_I suppose I should just take what I can get_, thought Jana. Judging by Alois' expression, he was thinking the same thing.

"Well," Alois said, "on that note, I suppose I should call up my first witness."

"Go ahead, Mr. Gavin," the Judge said.

"The prosecution calls Sen Ehkha to the stand." A woman in the gallery just behind the defense bench groaned very loudly as Ehkha took his place at the witness stand.

"Witness, name and occupation."

"Sen Ehkha. Professional biologist, specializing in troglobites. Part-time sex god."

"The witness will behave himself," the Judge said irritably.

"Of course, your Honor," Ehkha said, grinning, "say, are you married?"

"Mr. Gavin," the Judge said stiffly. She was obviously _incredibly_ offended.

_Too bad you can't give the witnesses penalties_, Jana mused.

Alois gave the Judge a hopeless look, then addressed Ehkha. "Witness, if you don't want to end this trial in handcuffs, I suggest you _behave yourself_." He dropped his usual smile and glared at him in a very von Karma-esque way instead. "Am I clear?"

"…crystal," Ehkha huffed.

"Now," Alois said, his expression softening again, "yesterday, the defendant testified that he was in the base camp before the party that discovered the body set out. Please tell the court-"

"Got it," Ehkha interrupted, then cleared his throat and began his testimony (much to Alois' clear annoyance): "Fey wasn't at the base camp at that time. I should know. I was looking for him." The crowd broke out into discussion, which the Judge quickly dispelled.

"So," Alois said, grinning, "not only is the defendant's alibi completely unsubstantiated, but it's also completely _false_."

"The defense may begin its cross-examination," the Judge said. Ehkha leered towards the defense bench.

Jana groaned internally. He had already told them pretty much everything yesterday. Everything except… "Witness. Why were you looking for Flint Fey?"

Ehkha flinched, like he wasn't expecting Jana to ask that, even though it was a completely obvious question. Had Alois not gone over this with him? Or was he just throwing witnesses under the bus as usual? "Weeeeeeell," he said slowly, sweating, "see, the thing is… Fey… owed me money?"

Jana raised an eyebrow. "Even if he _did_ owe you money," she said, "why go looking for him between the hours of three and five AM on the morning of the 27th _specifically_?"

"Wait," the Judge said, "five AM…? It says 4:00 to 4:30 on the autopsy report."

"…somehow it hasn't come up until now," Alois said apologetically, "but it was around five that the body was discovered. And you'll recall from Mr. Hawthorne's testimony yesterday, three AM was when the defendant and the victim were witnessed in front of the cave."

"I see," said the Judge.

Jana slapped her riding crop on the bench to direct the court's attention back towards her. "Sen Ehkha. Explain yourself!"

"…what," Ehkha said, "um, I went looking for him at that time specifically… because I felt like it."

"That makes no sense," Jana snapped.

"Yes it does," Ehkha growled.

"It really doesn't," Alois said casually. Ehkha frowned at him.

"You're supposed to be on my side," he whined.

Alois rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "This is a court of law. We don't pick 'sides' here."

_Says you,_ Jana thought. Maria glared at her. She could probably guess what Jana was thinking…

"Okay, well," Ehkha said, looking stubbornly away, "th… the reason I was searching for Fey… well, actually! The day before…" his eyes started blazing, "he really did something to piss me off-!"

"…yes, and?" Jana said after a moment of silence.

"What?" Ehkha said defensively.

"What exactly did Flint Fey _do_?" Jana said, her fingers digging into her bicep.

"You're showing remarkable restraint," Maria muttered to Jana. Jana's only response was to glare at her.

"Does it really matter?" Alois was saying, "what's important is the fact that the defendant lied about his whereabouts at the time of the crime, _not_ why the witness was looking for him."

"Objection!" Jana said, "i-it could very well be extremely relevant!"

"How?" Alois said, looking bored.

"Ummmmmmmm," Jana said. Needless to say, she had no idea, but she couldn't just drop it - Flint had already confirmed that Ehkha was telling the truth here, so if she ripped apart Ehkha's testimony, Alois would undoubtedly call Flint to the stand. Jana doubted that Flint would be able to stick to his story from yesterday, so questioning Ehkha's motives was the only way to make it out of this testimony with her case more or less intact.

"…this is just conjecture," Maria said, "but what if Mr. Ehkha's reason for looking for Flint was because… he was being threatened or blackmailed into doing so?"

Alois raised his eyebrows. "Why would you…?"

"Ah," Jana said, picking it up, "when we asked Flint Fey why Sen Ehkha did not see him at base camp, he… did in fact admit that he was not, in fact, at the part of the base camp where Sen Ehkha would have seen him," she said quickly. The crowd, predictably, started murmuring, but the Judge called for order immediately. "Flint Fey said he was avoiding someone in the house - but was 'not at liberty' to say who."

"Therefore," Maria said, "it's likely that someone was threatening the defendant." She glanced at Jana and raised her eyebrows slightly, as if asking if she should bring up Oliver. Jana shook her head slightly. She was afraid of what Oliver would say if he got subpoenaed. "And if someone was threatening the defendant," Maria continued, looking back at the court, "it's possible that someone was also threatening the witness."

"…hmm," Alois said thoughtfully, "I wonder what that would mean for _either _of our cases. Do you have any proof that there were any threats or blackmail at all?"

Jana pointed her riding crop at Ehkha, who had been sweating bullets for the entire conversation. "The witness is reacting rather strongly for someone who is _not_ being threatened."

"Shut up," Ehkha growled, running his fingers through his hair frantically. "Shut up, shut up, shut up."

Alois gave him a mock-sympathic look, then said, "Witness, why don't you humor the defense and give a _reasonable_ explanation as for why you were looking for the defendant at the time of the crime?"

"It's not my fault, it was Ma-" Ehkha slipped out, looking wildly around the court, then he shook his head frantically. "Forget I said anything."

"…what?" the Judge said.

"She'll kill me," Ehkha blurted, then hung is head. "I won't say anything else!"

"So we were right about you being threatened?" Jana said.

"There's no need to sound so shocked," Alois commented.

"And he almost named who was threatening him, too," Maria said, gritting her teeth.

"What did he say again? 'Ma-'?" the Judge said, "That sounds like the beginning to a name."

"…it is. I was asked to find Fey at a certain time. I was told he'd be in the base camp. He wasn't. That part's true," Ehkha admitted, "your Honor… if you don't mind, I'd like to be dismissed. And possibly entered into the witness protection program."

"Was there anything else you needed him to testify about, Mr. Gavin?" the Judge said. Alois shook his head. "Very well. Mr. Ehkha, you are dismissed. Thank you for your valuable testimony."

"Before you call your next witness, Mr. Gavin," Maria said, "we should discuss who 'Ma-' refers to."

Alois nodded. "We should," he said, "however, that is easier said than done. There are multiple people involved in this case with names that begin with 'Ma'."

"Mary Mec and Maren Go," Jana said, "two members of the speleologist team."

"Yes, those two would be the most likely," Alois said, "and there are also many citizens of Kurain Village whose names begin with 'Ma'. For example, Maya Fey and her daughter Mairwen."

"Do either of them have any reason to threaten or blackmail Mr. Ehkha?" the Judge said, looking skeptical. Come to think of it, the Judge did know Maya Fey, didn't she?

"…well, we haven't previously looked into the possibility of threats or blackmail being involved," Alois said, then leaned forward smugly, "perhaps the defense wishes to argue duress?"

"No," Jana snapped. The only thing she could do with that was plead guilty for voluntary manslaughter, which was still a guilty verdict even if it meant a reduced sentence for Flint.

And of course, getting a guilty verdict would mean losing to Alois. _No_, Jana thought, _never_.

Alois shook his head again. "This conversation won't go anywhere, considering the defense seems to be making things up as they go along." Jana scowled at him. "So I think now would be a good time to call up my next witness."

"Oh, of course!" the Judge said.

"The prosecution calls Maren Go to the stand."

"Maren Go, huh," Maria said as Go took the stand, "I wonder what she's going to say?"

"What?" Jana said.

Maria shrugged. "It just seems that things keep coming back to her, don't they? I recall that yesterday you were never able to talk to her."

"Witness, name and occupation," Alois said.

"My name is Maren Go," she said. She was a short, plump woman approximately the same age as the Judge and had longish black hair covered neatly with a bandana. Jana couldn't tell her eye color underneath her thick glasses. "I have a degree in hyrdogeology, but my current job is leader of the scientific expedition at Kurain Caverns."

"You were with the party that originally discovered the body, no?" Alois said.

Go nodded. "That's right, kid."

_Kid?_ Jana thought. _How rude._

"Please describe what happened after Ms. Kitaki found the victim," Alois said, ignoring Go's barb.

Go tilted her head. "I was at the back of the party, but as soon as Kitaki started screaming we all ran for the entrance. We didn't even know what had happened until she called the police. But that's beside the point - anyway, while we were down there, I briefly lost track of Fey. For an interval of about fifteen minutes, I only saw him once - he was carrying something that was covered in some sort of tarp. I thought it was odd at the time. He didn't have it when we went back topside."

"Hmm," said the Judge, "so, the prosecution contends that this fifteen minutes was when-?"

"When the victim's body was hoisted up to the ceiling, your Honor," Alois said, "since he was certainly killed before the expedition team went down."

The Judge nodded. "Ms. von Karma, you may begin your cross-examination," she said.

Jana crossed her arms. "Witness, several people in the party have commented that they do not recall you going down with them-"

"I already told you, I was at the back," Go interrupted, pushing her glasses up her nose with one finger.

"…very well," Jana said. She wished she was old enough to use a whip - she couldn't punish uncooperative witnesses with a riding crop, after all. "When you were headed back up to the surface, did you lose track of Flint Fey?"

"What?" Go said, "what do you mean?"

"The body was cut down after Ms. Kitaki discovered it, remember?" Alois said, "did the defendant have the opportunity to do that?"

"Of course he did," Go said, irritated.

Jana frowned. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that, although it was curious that that question had apparently caught Go off-guard, or something. "Can you elaborate on the nature of the thing that my client was carrying?"

"Of course, kid," Go said, adjusting her glasses again, "it was covered in some sort of fabric, but I did catch a glimpse of it - it was a hatchet."

"A hatchet?" Jana and Maria said at the same time, stunned.

"Both a hatchet and a small section of tarp were recovered in an underground river close to the crime scene," Alois said lightly, and submitted both to the court record. They both had traces of Salt's blood on them, but it wasn't immediately noticeable due to their submergence in running water for a few days.

"…hold it," Jana said cautiously, "what does this hatchet have to do with the death of Peter Salt? The murder weapon was a pocketknife, was it not?"

"Actually," Alois said, pulling out a piece of paper, "according to the-"

"Wait a minute."

"-updated autopsy report," Alois said, grinning cheekily. The only thing preventing Jana from banging her head against the desk was Maria's hand on her shoulder. Alois continued, ignoring Jana's anguish, "the murder weapon was actually this hatchet. The pocketknife was only used to cut down the body."

"Is that why the body was dropped on the stalactite?" the Judge said.

"Stalagmite," Go corrected, as did a few people in the gallery.

"Apparently so, your Honor," Alois said, "the killer evidently wanted us to believe that the pocketknife was actually the weapon."

Jana banged her riding crop on her bench. "What would even be the point of that?!"

Alois chuckled. "Presumably it had something to do with the fact that the entire speleology group only has one hatchet between all of them - and it was currently 'signed out' to the defendant."

"What," Jana said, "…'signed out'?"

"It's how we keep track of equipment," Go explained, "there's a clipboard that we write our names on whenever we use something."

"Objection!" Jana said, "why would anyone _sign out_ the hatchet if they were intending to murder someone with it?!"

"Oh, the actual time when it was signed out was a few days preceding the murder," Alois said.

"Fey claimed to have lost it," Go added.

"I suppose he must have done that so that no one would get suspicious in case they spotted him taking it in the first place," Alois said, "or if they spotted him with it at any point later - he could just claim that he found it again, and postpone his murder plans for a while longer."

"Flint Fey is not that clever!" Jana objected. Maria kicked her leg. "Ow."

"The defense will refrain from character-assassinating her own client," the Judge said, exasperated.

Jana glared at the court at large for a minute before continuing. "Did anyone else notice that the defendant was missing either of these times?"

"No, I don't think so," Go said promptly. Jana scowled.

"Well," Jana said slowly, searching through the court record. "According to Kitty Kitaki's testimony, you were present when she called the police. Is this correct?"

"Yeah," Go said.

"…do you recall what exactly she said?" Jana said.

"She… said there had been a murder," Go said, "right?"

Jana crossed her arms. Why was Go uncertain? "…Alois. Do you have a transcript of the 911 call?"

"Not presently, no," Alois replied, raising an eyebrow, "where are you going with this?"

"I am merely exploring every possibility," Jana said, wagging her finger.

"Well, I can easily request a copy," Alois said.

"How much time do you need?" said the Judge.

"Ten minutes, your Honor," Alois said.

The Judge nodded. "I declare a recess for ten minutes, pending the arrive of the transcript of the 911 call."

* * *

_July 29, 1:50 PM, Defendant's Lobby #2_

"So what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?" Maria said.

"Uh," Jana said, "stalling?" Maria sighed.

"I think we'll have one more day of trail anyway," she pointed out, "since we can push for an investigation of who exactly is threatening Ehkha - since it certainly isn't Flint."

"…yes, I realize that," Jana said, "however…" she closed her eyes, thinking, "something about Maren Go's story does not add up. There has to be something somewhere that would cast doubt on her testimony."

"Actually, I agree," Maria said, putting her hand to her mouth, "I don't buy her 'back of the party' explanation. What is she up to…?"

"You don't think she's the real killer, do you?" Flint said nervously.

"Do you?" Maria said flatly, "more to the point - was our theory about you being blackmailed accurate?"

Flint looked away for a long moment. "…yeah," he said at last, "although technically it's not _me_ being threatened." He looked nervously around, even though the only other person in the defendant's lobby was the guard. "I mean, it should be okay to tell you that much, right? Since you already figured it out?"

"Of course," Maria said soothingly.

"Who was threatening who?" Jana demanded.

"I… I can't say," Flint mumbled.

"Was it the real killer?" Maria said, giving Flint that look that she probably didn't realize was a steely glare.

"Well, if it was," Flint said, pressing his fingers together, "then you guys are on the wrong track, since it wasn't Ms. Go who was threatening… someone close to me."

"…hm," Maria said, putting her hand on her mouth again, "then, assuming that the person who was threatening Flint and the person that was threatening Ehkha are one and the same…"

"Mary Mec," Jana said, bending her riding crop.

"B-But I think there's something bigger at work here," Flint said anxiously, "since the person who told me to stay out of the base camp… it wasn't Mary either."

"What?" Jana and Maria said at the same time.

"I can't tell you anymore," Flint said quickly, looking around again.

"…looks like we have a lot of investigation to do as soon as trial lets out," Maria muttered.

"The recess is almost over," the guard said suddenly.

"Well, let's start getting to the bottom of this," Maria said. Flint gulped loudly.

* * *

_July 29, 2:00 PM, Courtroom #2_

Court was back in session, and Alois had the transcript, which he immediately deposited into the court record. The courtroom was silent for a moment as Jana skimmed it.

"…wait a minute," Jana said, raising an eyebrow towards Go, who had returned to the witness stand, "according to Kitty Kitaki's testimony yesterday, she had not told anyone that Peter Salt was dead until the 911 call."

"Yes, and?" Go said.

"And she stated that afterwards, you were 'yellin' about how ol' Pete had just died,'" Maria said, reading off of the transcript of Kitaki's testimony.

"However, at no point in the 911 call does she state that a murder had occurred," Jana said, smirking.

"'There's been a nasty attack at Kurain Caverns, please hurry, there's a lotta blood but I think he maybe ain't bit it yet,'" Maria read off.

_Is it really necessary to imitate her voice like that_, Jana wondered, but pressed on. "Witness," she said, banging her riding crop against the defense bench, "you already stated that you did not know what had happened until Kitty Kitaki called 911," she shouted, "and yet you still somehow knew that Peter Salt was dead, despite the fact that Kitty Kitaki never mentioned that!"

"I- er," Go said, sweating, "I - I assumed-"

"How did you know that Peter Salt was dead?" Jana said, extended her hand, "well, witness?"

"O-Obviously I saw the body," Go said, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"That is an impossibility," Jana said, crossing her arms, "Kitaki has already stated that no one else went into the room."

Go cringed, and her glasses cracked.

"Well, witness?" Alois said. Jana threw a glare at him. Was he up to something or just stupid?

"I… was sure that he was dead… because…" she was trembling. "Because I was… warned that he would be killed that day." The gallery burst into discussion.

"You were warned about it?" Alois said as the Judge quieted down the gallery. "And yet you did nothing?"

"There was nothing I could do," Go said, although she was still trembling.

"Who warned you?" Jana said.

"I - well, the defendant, of course," Go said, adjusting her glasses, "but he threatened to …kill me if I told anyone."

"…objection," Jana said, looking at Go dubiously, "why was this not included in your initial testimony?" Go was silent to that. "He has been arrested. There is no way for him to kill you."

"It's not like it's impossible to kill someone while you're in prison," Alois said thoughtfully, "just ask your uncle."

"Once again, Flint Fey is _not that clever_," Jana snapped, "and he is your uncle, too!"

"Both of you, settle down," Maria hissed, "this is a court of law."

"Back on topic," the Judge said, "witness, the defense has raised a good point. There's no reason for you to have excluded that fact from your initial testimony."

"…because he never threatened to kill me, he was blackmailing me, actually," Go said, sweating, "he could still release the blackmail while in prison, right?"

"Why did you say he would kill you?!" Jana demanded.

"It sounded more dramatic, kid," Go replied.

"This is a courtroom, not a theatre," Alois said, "witness. You claim that the defendant was blackmailing you?"

"Yeah," Go said.

"How long has this been going on?" Alois said.

"…since… for as long as I've known him… since before the Black Chasm expedition," Go said.

"Objection!" Jana said, "you and the defendant did not meet before the Black Chasm expedition!"

"Oh, right," Go said, "then it must have started after that."

"And why would you be warned about Peter Salt's impending murder?" Jana said, "that does not make any sense." Go was silent again.

"…I plead the fifth," she said after a long moment. Alois cringed backwards, clutching himself anxiously.

"But you have yet to provide a good explanation as to why you knew Peter Salt was dead!" Jana protested.

"I plead the fifth, kid," Go said again, "I won't say anything else. Your Honor, I'd like to be dismissed."

The Judge gave the witness a long look, then banged her gavel. "The current witness is dismissed." Go left quickly. "Mr. Gavin, what is the prosecution's opinion on this?"

"I agree with the defense, actually," Alois said, "Ms. Go's explanation as to why she knew Mr. Salt was dead made no sense." He started playing with his hair. "We need more time to investigate all these claims of threats and blackmail, your Honor."

The Judge nodded. "Very well, we will reconvene tomorrow. This court is adjourned!"

* * *

_July 29, 5:00 PM, Kurain Village_

"Okay, y'all, last night I did a bit of digging," Alechi said, "y'all wanna hear what I came up with?"

"Go ahead," Watson said.

"Does it have to do with Go's suspicious behavior?" Maria said.

"Yep," Alechi said, "the way I see it, actually, she is the most suspicious."

"You mean she might be the real killer?" Mairwen said.

"Just tell us what you found out," Jana said, annoyed.

"Well, remember how everyone was going on about how Peter drove his fiancée to suicide?" Alechi said, "I figured out who she is."

"Who?" all the women he was talking to said.

"Ms. Go's sister," Alechi said, "her name was Onyx."

"Onyx Go?" Jana said thoughtfully. Unusual name.

Alechi nodded. "Took me forever to figure it out - but almost ten years ago, Onyx was going to marry Peter, but he was just playing with her…" he crossed his arms, "and she killed herself. Ain't that awful?" Watson nodded uncertainly.

"So, as it stands," Maria, who was apparently only half-listening, said slowly, "we know Oliver is being threatened or blackmailed, but we don't know by who. Flint was being threatened with the death of someone close to him, but we don't know who it was there either, just that it wasn't Mec or Go. Ehkha was being threatened by either Mec or Go… and Go seems more likely. And Go claimed that she was blackmailed by someone, and I think she was sincere about that, but all we know on that count was that it couldn't've been Flint."

"So there's at least two threateners," Mairwen said, "maybe Ms. Go was blackmailed into threatening Mr. Ehkha?"

"…implying there was some sort of mastermind?" Jana said.

"That makes sense," Alechi said.

"Well, I guess first off we should find out if it was Go who was threatening Oliver," Watson said, "since I bet it's either her or whoever was blackmailing her."

"Ah," someone nearby said. Everyone turned (or in Mairwen's case, peered around Alechi) to see Oliver standing nearby.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jana demanded.

"I - I wasn't eavesdropping," Oliver said indignantly, "I just overheard… you talking about threats and blackmail. I mean, I'm involved, aren't I?"

"Yes," Maria said.

"So, Oliver," Alechi said, smiling disarmingly, "was it Ms. Go who was threatening you?"

Oliver gave him an extremely odd look before answering. "No, it wasn't." He glanced nervously to the side. "It was probably the same person who was blackmailing her."

"What exactly did you _see_, though?" Maria said.

"…I told you, I can't tell you," Oliver said, looking at his feet, "if you catch the mastermind in court tomorrow, then I'll be able to help out when _they_ get prosecuted, but before that… I mean, I'd be safe once they get arrested, right?"

"The mastermind?" Alechi said sharply, "so you saw something that has to do with them?"

"No, forget I said anything," Oliver said, looking up and waving his hands defensively, before sprinting away.

"Wait! Oliver Fey!" Jana yelled, "Get back here!" But he didn't listen, which was unusual for him. _He must be terrified,_ Jana thought, although admittedly she didn't feel very sorry for him.

"…I don't think we'll be getting anything out of him until after the trial," Maria sighed.

"But what little we could get out of him _is_ important," Watson said, "Mairwen, I think you're right about this 'mastermind' thing."

"Well, let's go find them!" Mairwen said cheerfully.

"You make it sound so easy," Alechi said, looking vaguely amused, "Mystic Mairwen, this is a murder case, not an amusement park…"

Mairwen shrugged. "Honestly, there's not much difference." There was a short, awkward pause, in which Alechi looked at the assembled investigative team incredulously. Everyone except him had been raised around murder trials and crime scenes (or the dead walking around casually as though they were still alive).

"…let's just go talk to Ms. Go," he said at length, rolling his eyes. He grabbed Watson's hand. "She should be at the base camp, I think. I'm pretty sure her testimony wasn't suspicious enough to arrest her, right?"

* * *

_July 29, 5:33 PM, Kurain Village, Scientists' Base Camp_

"…do you really expect us to believe that you were blackmailed when you can't even tell us how long it's been going on?" someone inside a closed room said. There was a sharp _slam_ that sounded suspiciously like a 16-year-old hitting his palms on a table. "Na? What kind of Opfers do you take the police for?!"

"Sounds like Alois is interrogating Maren Go," Jana said.

"Before you ask," the cop standing right outside the door said, "no, you can't sit in on it."

"We can hear most of it from out here, anyway," Mairwen said cheerfully, in response to which the cop immediately herded the group outside.

"…way to go, Mairwen," Maria said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Mairwen said.

"So, do we have any other leads?" Alechi said, scratching the back of his neck, "I mean, Sen's not coming back. And the others have already told us everything they can."

"There's one person we haven't talked to, though," Watson said.

"Does Hana Lavatob have anything to do with the crime?" Jana asked Alechi.

"She _was_ in the group with Kitaki," Maria said thoughtfully.

"It's a no-go," Alechi said, shaking his head, "I already asked her. She hadn't seen anything. She doesn't even have any theories as to what happened."

"No theories? Really?" Watson said, raising her eyebrows.

Alechi shrugged. "Hana's a very practical person, so she ain't really a fan of conjecture."

"Well," Jana said, "we do still need to investigate the claims of threats and blackmail."

"We can try," Watson said dubiously, "somehow I don't think anyone will tell us anything."

"Mr. Ehkha's out, Ms. Go's out, Flint already told us all he was willing to," Mairwen said, counting on her fingers, "as did Oliver-"

"Flint's being threatened with the death of someone close to him," someone deadpanned suddenly. It was Amaryllis, who had apparently been listening on their conversation.

"He told us already," Maria said, "…in the defendant's lobby… were you listening in on us when we first got here?" Amaryllis shook her head. "Did he… tell you?"

"No," Amaryllis said, "but I happened to see what happened when he tried to call the threatener's bluff."

"Call the threatener's bluff?" Jana said, "what made him think that the threatener was bluffing?"

Amaryllis tilted her head. "He only mentioned it to me once. For the most part, all I saw was the aftermath of whatever he said to the threatener."

"Did he tell you who was threatening him?" Mairwen gasped.

"No, of course not," Amaryllis said, "I would have already told Alois if he had."

"But did he say anything about the threatener?" Alechi said, "like, why he thought the threatener was only bluffing?"

"'He's such a nice guy, normally! There's no way he could actually kill someone like he says he will. He's just… desperate. He's bluffing because he's desperate! I won't let him go down this path and say thing he doesn't mean like that…!'" Amaryllis said, pitching her voice down and pinching her nose to make a passable imitation of Flint's voice. "Flint didn't tell me the guy's name because he didn't want him to get in trouble," Amaryllis said in her normal voice, "and he really only mentioned it to a few of his more trustworthy siblings. He didn't even tell Mom and Dad."

_I would not consider Amaryllis Fey to be one of any trustworthy siblings_, Jana thought, although that was probably the wrong thing to take away.

"But… something happened after that?" Maria said.

"Wait, I think I know what she's talking about!" Mairwen said, "about a month ago - the food poisoning at the scientists' base camp, right? Let me guess, that wasn't actually food poisoning!"

"That sounds about right," Amaryllis said, "after that happened, Flint told me, 'He's serious.' Then he wouldn't talk about it anymore."

"Food poisoning, huh?" Watson said, "were all the scientists victim to it?"

"Just one," Alechi said, "Hana."

"Why Hana Lavatob?" Jana said.

Alechi shrugged. "She and Flint have one of those are-they-dating-are-they-not mutual attraction things going on."

"The whole village knows it," added Mairwen.

"So… Lavatob's food was poisoned… as a show of force towards Flint?" Maria said, scribbling in her notebook.

"Yes," Amaryllis said.

"And those were the exact words that Flint used?" Maria said, putting a hand to her mouth.

"Yes," Amaryllis said again. Jana wondered what it would be like to cross-examine her in court.

"Which means… Hana was being threatened by a man," Alechi said, "obviously not Flint. And probably not Peter either, since Flint could've just told y'all about that now that Peter's dead."

"That narrows it down considerably," Jana said, "either Sen Ehkha or you, Tuck Alechi."

"Don't be ridiculous," Watson snapped, "it couldn't have been Tuck. Why would he help us if he were involved like that?"

"Calm down, Wat," Maria said, "although… I suppose if it was Ehkha, that could make sense. Remember how we thought Go was perhaps blackmailed into threatening Ehkha?"

"You are thinking that it was the other way around?" Jana said.

"Rather, we're missing a step," Maria said, "Go was blackmailed into threatening Ehkha into threatening Lavatob in order to control Flint so the mastermind could pin Salt's murder on him."

"Lord, that's complicated," Alechi commented.

"Can you really trust Go's words, though," Amaryllis said, "I overheard part of Alois' interrogation. She keeps giving contradictory information about her supposed blackmail."

"Ehkha was sincere, though," Watson said quickly, "at least about being threatened."

"So we need to find out what exactly he was threatened into _doing_," Alechi said, "what was it he admitted to so far - he went looking for Flint at the time of the crime?"

"I suppose that must have been to establish him as a witness," Maria said, "to make sure that Flint's alibi didn't hold up."

"And I suppose Flint Fey was told to say he _was_ in the base camp in the first place, yet stay out of it," Jana said drily, "to make sure he had an alleged alibi in the first place."

"I guess the mastermind planned on taking this to court the whole time," Mairwen said.

"Wait," Maria said, "wouldn't that only work if Ehkha was otherwise unrelated to the crime?"

"What do you mean?" Watson said.

"If he were involved in the crime otherwise, why not just tell him to _claim_ he was unable to find Flint whether or not he actually looked for him? Why go to all the trouble of keeping Flint out of the house and sending Ehkha to search for him in it?" Maria said, tapping her pen on her notebook, "Establishing him a witness doesn't make sense if he had a hand in the orchestration of the crime itself, since there'd be a risk of him folding under cross-examination."

"I dunno about that," Alechi said, "Sen's well-known for being hard to break."

"All it took was a simple question," Jana said.

"You and the mastermind both got lucky," Alechi said, "since he broke, but he didn't tell y'all everything."

"So, you think that the mastermind didn't anticipate Mr. Ehkha admitting that he was being threatened?" Mairwen said.

"Yep," Alechi said, gesticulating vaguely, "but since he was so freaked out… I bet if y'all had asked him, he probably would've admitted any other things the threatener had asked him to do." Jana frowned. It was true that she should have asked, but she (along with the rest of the court) had been distracted by "Ma-" slipping out. What exactly he had been told to do had seemed insignificant compared to almost getting the name of the mastermind - especially since he had volunteered at least part of what his instructions were. Maybe that _wasn't_ all he had to do.

"So… Ehkha is a pawn," Watson said slowly, "and Go is the mastermind, but she's playing a pawn."

"Very poorly," Amaryllis added. Jana decided not to ask how the interrogation techniques that Alois had picked up from Blackquill were going. Alois couldn't even use a katana. Competently, anyway.

"Which means… Go is the real killer," Watson continued, "and she did it in order to…"

"…to avenge the death of her sister, Onyx," Alechi finished for her.

"We need to speak to Sen Ehkha," Jana said.

"Good luck finding him," Amaryllis interjected, "I heard Alois talking to Detective Noir earlier about how no one was entirely sure where he went after court."

"Were the police not keeping an eye on him?" Alechi said, slightly stunned.

"Oh, they were," Amaryllis said flatly, "he gave them the slip. Apparently they're looking for him all over Los Angeles, but by now he could be anywhere."

"That's suspicious," Mairwen said, "maybe he's the mastermind after all."

"It is suspicious," Jana agreed, "but that does not clear suspicion against Maren Go."

"If he were involved in the crime after all, it _would_ make sense for him to flee," Maria said uncertainly.

"So that's how it happened, then?" Alechi said, "do you think you can catch her in court tomorrow?"

"I think we just might be able to," Maria said.

"Swell," Alechi said resolutely.

"…I thought you did not like Peter Salt," Jana said.

"Well, no. It ain't a real shame that he's dead, to be honest. Not after what he did to Onyx," Alechi said, glancing away, "but Flint… didn't deserve to get wrapped up in this mess. I look forward to end of the trial."

"Did you know Onyx?" Watson said, playing with the sleeve of her labcoat.

"You could say that," Alechi said with a sad smile, "at the very least, I knew her well enough for what Peter did to be unforgivable."

"…so you would have also had a motive?" Jana said. Watson glared at her, apparently not picking up on the fact that Jana was joking.

"Hey, don't even kid about that," Alechi laughed.

* * *

_July 30, 9:50 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #2_

"Last day of trail," Flint said morosely.

"By the end of the day, you shall be a free man," Jana said.

"B-But Mr. Salt will still be dead," Flint said.

"Flint, you live in Kurain Village," Maria pointed out, "if you want to see him again, just ask one of your sisters to channel him. Or Mairwen, since I'm sure she'd love the practice."

"…b-b-but," Flint stammered, "even if I can still talk to him, he's still _dead_. Someone still _murdered_ him. Th-that's terrible."

"We think we know who it was, though," Maria said, "Salt will be avenged."

"…good," Flint said, "I know he did some pretty bad things, but that was all in the past, right?" His shoulders drooped. "I'm sure he had a family. They must miss him a lot."

Actually, Peter Salt had had no living relatives, but judging by Maria's warning glance, Jana probably wasn't supposed to bring that up.

"Court will begin shortly, pal," said the bailiff.

"I hope the Judge can keep up with our theory," Maria muttered, and they entered the courtroom.

* * *

_July 30, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom #2_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Flint Fey."

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor."

"The defense is ready, your Honor."

"Now," said the Judge, "yesterday, there were claims of threatening and blackmail. Has this been looked into?"

"Yes, your Honor," Alois said, "the prosecution has a theory… I assume the defense has one as well?"

"Of course we do," Jana said.

The Judge looked between the two of them. "Mr. Gavin," she said, "please outline the police theory before we get into what the defense thinks."

"Of course, your Honor," Alois said, bowing slightly, "We believe that Maren Go and the defendant were accomplices… and that Ms. Go turned on the defendant by testifying against him and instructing Mr. Ehkha to do the same."

The gallery burst into discussion, which the Judge quieted immediately. "Mr. Gavin," the Judge said, "what exactly was the role of each person in the crime?"

"The defendant was likely the one actually killed the victim and hid the body, since there's no evidence pointing to a crime scene that was _not_ the cave, and in the cave, only the defendant could have done it," Alois said, "since we were able to confirm that Ms. Go was not lying about the defendant being unaccounted for for a span of about fifteen minutes."

"You mean to say the other people in the group confirmed it?" Jana said.

Alois nodded, smiling winningly. "Yes, Ms. Lavatob and Ms. Kitaki only recently remembered - at the time, they completely wrote it off because it's apparently normal for the defendant to get separated from the party. However," he continued, "the fact that Ms. Go correctly included this in her testimony was a coincidence. She did not go down into the cave that day."

"Objection!" Jana said, "Kitty Kitaki stated that she did!"

"Objection!" Alois shot back, "she also stated that she did not remember Ms. Go going down with them in the first place! Clearly, Ms. Go had joined the party after they had surfaced. Ms. Kitaki, in her confusion after discovering the body, assumed that Ms. Go had been with them the entire time."

"That does not prove that she did _not_ go in the cave!" Jana yelled.

Alois smirked and pulled out a piece of paper. "I have here an affidavit from Ms. Lavatob, who is far more objective than Ms. Kitaki. While she did not wish to testify in court, she did confirm that Ms. Go was not, in fact, with them at any point."

Jana recoiled and put her hands over her ears. Alois was blowing holes in her team's theory before she had even presented it.

"Honestly, Jana," Maria said, looking vaguely amused and somewhat disappointed, "didn't your mentor ever tell you to keep cool?"

"What?" Jana said irritably.

"Just because she wasn't with Kitaki, Lavatob, Mec, and Flint doesn't mean that she couldn't have been in the cave at all. Kurain Caverns is a very big cave complex, and there are plenty of ways to get to and from the entrance." She gave Jana a authoritative look. "Why don't you tell the court _our_ theory now?"

Jana nodded and cleared her throat, turning back to the court. "The defense would like the court to hear our theory now."

"Go ahead, Ms. von Karma," the Judge said, although she glanced at Alois, who looked entirely unconcerned, as usual.

"Maren Go and Flint Fey were _not_ accomplices," Jana said, "because Flint Fey had nothing to do with the crime apart from being blackmailed into self-incriminating behavior." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "The real killer was Maren Go, and the closest thing to an accomplice she had was Sen Ehkha, who was being threatened into cooperating with her."

"And what role did Mr. Ehkha play?" the Judge said.

"He was the one who was threatening the defendant," Jana said, extending her hand, "the defendant had instructions to claim he was at the base camp at roughly the time of the murder, and yet stay out of it - meanwhile, Sen Ehkha was to search for Flint Fey in the base camp so that he could testify in court that he was not there when he failed to find him."

Alois frowned. "That doesn't make sense," he said, "why bother searching if he was the one who told the defendant to stay out in the first place?"

Maria rolled her eyes, then said, "How do we know that Mr. Ehkha searched in the first place? Was he witnessed?"

"No," Alois said, "but the defendant has already admitted to the fact that he was instructed to stay out of the base camp."

"Presumably, that was done so there would be no accidental witnesses to see Flint Fey doing anything to support his alleged alibi," Jana said, pointing her riding crop, "whether or not Sen Ehkha _actually_ searched is irrelevant."

"It sounds like we need more testimony from Mr. Ehkha," the Judge said, with a half-disguised look of distaste.

"…we don't know where he is," Alois admitted, "he disappeared before we got the chance to question him. The only way to figure out his role in all this is to hear it from the one who forced him into it."

"Which both of you can agree was most likely Ms. Go," the Judge said.

"Apparently so, your Honor," Alois said, grinning, "the prosecution calls Maren Go to the stand."

Go took the stand amidst a flurry of conversation from the gallery.

"Witness, name and occupation."

"My name is Maren Go, and I'm the leader of the scientific expedition at Kurain Caverns." Pause. "Or at least I was, up until Salt went and got himself killed."

"We'd like you to explain your involvement in the crime," Alois said casually. Go twitched. "We already know you _are_ involved, witness, so how things go here may just decide how things go in your own trial."

Go shakily nodded, looking from Jana and Alois quickly. "Fey was the killer, of course," she said at length, "I, ah, assisted him, under threat of… something, of course." She frowned. "But my conscience couldn't take it, so I told Fey to claim he was in the base camp but to stay out of it, and then I sent Ehkha to go search for him in the base camp. I was hoping that, by ruining his alibi, I could get him convicted…"

"Hmm," said the Judge, "Ms. von Karma, your cross-examination, please."

"How exactly did you 'assist' in the murder?" Jana said.

"I - I stole the hatchet for Fey-" Go started, but Jana cut her off.

"The hatchet was stolen from the defendant in the first place," Jana said.

"I got Salt to go down into the cave, where Fey was waiting for him," Go said, sweating.

"Please describe how exactly the murder _happened_," Alois prompted.

"Of course," said Go, more confidently now, "the murder occurred shortly before the expedition team went down into the cave. After killing Salt, Fey went back up to the surface, hid in the backyard of the base camp for a while, then joined the expedition. While they were down there, Fey snuck ahead of the group, hoisted Salt's body into the air, waited for Kitaki to see it, cut the body down, and joined the expedition again on their way out."

"Objection!" Jana said, "that makes no sense!"

"Yes, it does," Go snapped.

Jana shook her head. "To begin with, why would the killer wait until the expedition team was already in the cave to hoist the body up to the ceiling? Why not just do it immediately after the murder?"

"Perhaps he did," Alois said.

"Then the fifteen minutes in which the defendant was unaccounted for are unimportant," Jana said, "what could he possibly have been doing at that time? Additionally," she continued, "the witness' proposed timeline is unlikely. The cave is a rather large one, so in order for the expedition team to have discovered the body at 5:00, they must have gone down at 4:30 - the time of the murder! If Flint Fey had killed Peter Salt, it would have been impossible for him to join the expedition party on their way down!"

"Objection!" Alois said, "the murder could have happened as early as 4:00! If the murder had occurred then, it could be possible for the defendant to join the expedition party!"

"Objection!" Jana said, "even if the murder was at 4:00, there was still no time for the defendant to hide in the backyard of the base camp while Sen Ehkha was searching for him!"

"Objection!" Alois said, "how do we know he was really in the backyard of the base camp? He could have still been in the cave at that point! All we know is that he admitted to not having been in the base camp as he initially claimed!"

"Objection!" Jana said, "be that as it may, if the murder had occurred at 4:00, Flint Fey would have surfaced at the same time as the rest of the expedition team was going down! They would have seen him emerge from the cave - and yet no one did!" Alois cringed. Jana smirked.

"Th-that is true," Alois said.

"More to the point," Jana said, "witness. You seem to have an awfully detailed knowledge of the crime."

"O-Of course I do, kid," Go said, "I helped plan it."

"Yet your plan makes no sense," Jana said, "unless, of course, it wasn't the defendant who carried it out…" Go eyed her nervously. "…perhaps it was you." She pointed her riding crop at Go. "You were the one who killed Peter Salt!"

"D-D-D-Don't be stupid," Go stammered, her glasses cracking, "I wasn't in the cave! Just ask anyone on the expedition team!"

"We did," Jana said, crossing her arms, "the expedition team testified that you exited the cave with them, but did not go down with them."

"…which is easily explained," Alois said, "a stress-induced mistake."

"Or," Jana said aggressively, "Maren Go really _did_ return to the surface with them, but she went down into the cave much earlier - when she killed Peter Salt! She hid in the cave until Kitty Kitaki discovered the body, then cut it down and returned to the surface with the others!" Alois recoiled, clutching himself.

"Aaaaah!" Go said, covering her head as her glasses shattered.

"Witness?" the Judge said, concerned.

"S-Stop it," Go cried, "just stop it! I admit it, okay?! I killed Salt! And I framed Fey! And I threatened Ehkha-!"

There was a brief pause, but something was still bugging Jana - and judging by his expression, Alois, too.

"Tell the court, witness," he said brusquely, "why did you wait until the body had been discovered to drop it onto the stalagmite?"

"Because I was told to," Go said, shivering.

Jana slapped the bench with her riding crop. "You cannot hide behind the blackmailing theory anymore."

"Yes I can!" Go snapped, pushing her empty glasses frames up to rest on her forehead, "I don't have a motive otherwise, right?"

"…that is true," Alois said thoughtfully.

"No it is not," Jana said confidently, "you had a very simple motive: to avenge the suicide of Peter Salt's former fiancée, your sister, Onyx Go."

Go gave Jana a very puzzled look. "I'm… an only child, kid."

Jana froze. Alois cleared his throat, "Little sister, where exactly did you get that information?"

"I got it from…" Jana trailed off.

"Tuck Alechi," Maria said, her expression unreadable, "he's been helping us with our investigation."

"Ah! Ah!" Go said, snapping her fingers, "it all comes down to him-!"

"Is he attending today's trial?" Alois said. There was a commotion in the gallery.

"Yes, I am," Alechi said in a loud, clear voice, from where he had stood up.

"Please take the stand, Mr. Alechi," the Judge said somberly, "we have some questions for you."

"Of course, ya'onner," Alechi drawled, and walked up to stand confidently - his gentle, sunny demeanor from the last few days had all but disappeared.

"Witness, name and occupation," Alois said coolly.

"I'm Tuck Alechi. I guess you could say my occupation is… criminal mastermind." The crowd began murmuring.

"Criminal mastermind?" Alois said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," Alechi said brightly, "let's get this clear, Mr. von Karma-Gavin. Ms. Go _was_ being blackmailed: by me. I blackmailed her into murdering Peter and threatening Ehkha. And I threatened Flint and Hana, too - oh, and don't forget little Oliver, who saw _everything_."

The courtroom was about three gavel swings away from descending into chaos. "Order, ORDER!" cried the Judge.

"But why?" Alois said, gritting his teeth.

"Because of Onyx," Alechi said, frowning.

"Who… is Onyx?" Maria said.

"My sister," Alechi said, and his hard expression broke slightly. Jana could see the tears in his eyes from the defense bench. "Onyx Alechi. She was… Peter's fiancée, and her suicide was his fault, no two ways 'bout it."

"But it was definitely a suicide?" Alois said.

Alechi nodded. "It was as good as murder, though." He slammed his hands on witness stand, suddenly angry. "Y'all don't know what it's _like_, growing up in rural Tennessee with only you and your older sister, and no one else in the world! We knew Peter was a scumbag - trying to marry a girl over twenty years his junior - but she did it so that she and I could have a _home_!" He held his arms tightly around himself and looked down. "Th-then Peter told Onyx he couldn't support the both of us - I had to go. Onyx… genuinely believed him. She didn't love him, but she thought he might just love her… so she killed herself, and left a note, begging Peter to take care of me, now that she couldn't be a burden to him anymore…" He shivered. "But Peter turned me out. I never saw him again until the Black Chasm expedition… I didn't even recognize him."

"…and then?" Alois prompted.

"Then he got drunk one night and told me aaaaall about him and Onyx. I knew then… he had to pay for what he did."

"But why this whole scheme?" Maria said, "whether or not you were the one to kill him, the sin is still on your head. Why get everyone else wrapped up in all this?"

"Because it wasn't just enough to kill him, I had to make sure no one would ever think of his 'good' memory." Alechi looked at the defendant's box apologetically. "I knew if I framed Flint, then Wright Anything Agency would get involved, and then everyone in the world would be able to hear what happened to Onyx." He looked back to the Judge and shrugged. "I was going to turn myself in at the end of the trial whether Ms. Go was caught or not."

"You wanted to turn the trial into your own personal smear campaign?" the Judge said angrily, "how dare you - court hasn't even been televised for 25 years-!"

"But the attention's still there," Alechi said, spreading his arms and looking around at the gallery, "and no one gets more attention than Wright Anything Agency and their friends in the Los Angeles Prosecutorial Offices."

"That still doesn't explain why you blackmailed someone else into murdering the victim instead of just doing it yourself," Alois said, "and why Mr. Ehkha had to get involved in all this."

"Well, I had to drag it out for the full three days, didn't I?" Alechi said nonchalantly, "and to make it as complicated as possible to attract the attention of those who don't usually follow trials. And as for Sen… Ms. Go dragged him into this, not me. I don't know her reasoning."

"Hmm," said the Judge, still obviously angry at Alechi, "well, anything anyone would like to add before I render my verdict on the defendant?"

"Just that Sen was never really involved in the crime," Alechi said, "all he did was look for Flint."

"He may have to stand as a witness in Ms. Go's trial," Alois said, "assuming we find him. But no, there's no reason to levy criminal charges against him anymore."

"Very well," the Judge said, "this court finds the defendant, Flint Fey… **NOT GUILTY**."

Confetti fell and the crowd cheered. Alechi and Go were lead away in handcuffs, although Alechi stopped halfway to the door and looked up at the gallery.

"Hey, Wat," he said, smiling sadly, "I know I was only helping with y'all's investigation in order to make sure the trial went how I wanted it to… but I really did like you. A lot, actually. Onyx would've liked you, too." He looked away, and his shoulders started shaking slightly, and it was hard to tell if he was laughing, crying, or both. "Visit me in prison, will you?" And he was gone.

* * *

_July 30, 4:43 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

Watson had managed to stay composed the entire drive back to the office, but as soon as she saw her father, she burst into tears.

"Why are the cute ones always murderers?" she sobbed into her father's shoulder (she was taller than him), "I really liked him, Dad…!"

"It'll be fine, Wat," Justice said, rubbing her shoulder.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, another father-child scene had started badly and had only devolved into chaos from there. The elusive Miles Wright had shown up in order to discuss something QLF-related with Maria, and had run into his father… and predictably, they had started fighting over Iris, as they were wont to do.

"But she's _not dead!_" Miles was shouting, "Aunt Maya can't channel her!"

"It's not out of the question that she could be being blocked!" Wright shouted back, "if was related to what happened at the Regina Berry incident-"

"Who _cares_ what happened at the Regina Berry incident?!" Miles yelled.

"The people who killed her!"

"But there were dozens of other people also involved! Why didn't they kill _you_ instead?!"

"I didn't touch the black walls!"

"Sometimes I wish they'd just agree to disagree," Maya Valerie sighed, "I mean, is our mother really such a big deal?"

"I would be upset if _my_ mother disappeared," Jana said, shrugging, "especially if Papa remarried and no one knew for sure what happened to her."

"But Daddy was the only one who could really be there for us after our mother disappeared," Maya Valerie said with the smallest trace of contempt, "since Daddy was too busy searching for her… it's obvious Daddy cared more for Daddy than our mother ever did."

"…which Daddy is which?" Jana said drily.

"No wonder you gave up so fast!" Miles was yelling, "you were just happy to get her out of the way so you could marry Edgeworth!"

"It wasn't like that!" Wright snapped, "and don't talk about Edgeworth with that tone of voice!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"Look, Miles," Wright said, struggling to regain his composure, "hate me if you must. I get that you're hurt because you can't just accept the facts and move on - but leave Edgeworth out of this. He had nothing to do with any of this. He's still your step-father, and he loves you just as much as he loves Misty and Valerie and Diego."

"This isn't about him!" Miles snapped, "Stop changing the subject!"

"You're the one who brought him up!"

"Oh - oh, FORGET IT!" Miles screamed just as Jana was about to suggest to Maya Valerie that they go someplace else. He turned on his heel and marched to the door. "Maria, come on! I still have something to discuss with you."

"I'll be out in a minute," Maria said blandly.

Miles threw one last glare at his father, then stepped outside and slammed the door so hard an old portrait of Zak Gramarye fell off the wall. Why did they even have that thing in the first place?

"That boy," Wright growled to himself, running his fingers through his hair in obvious distress. He turned to the rest of the people in the office, who had grown silent over the course of his and Miles' fight. "S-So, Jana, Wat, Maria… how did your case go?" he said, coughing awkwardly.

"Apparently the culprit broke Wat's heart," Justice said exasperatedly.

"I won, though," Jana said, putting one finger up gleefully.

"And you would have been proud of her, Uncle Phoenix," Maria said, although her blank expression didn't match up with her positive tone, "she didn't complain at all about dragging out the trial a bit in order to find the mastermind."

"Mastermind?" Wright said, "sounds like it was complicated."

"It was," said Maria, with one hand on the doorknob, "now, if you'll excuse me. I'll see you tomorrow." And she left.

"Looks like there's hope for you yet, Jana," joked Wright. Jana hit him with her riding crop.

* * *

**A/N: HAHA, DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING, DID YOU?! I hope not, anyway. I was trying to be subtle, although I'm sure it was obvious in retrospect, right? To be honest, I only did it because I started thinking, "Hey, Wat and Tuck are are a really cute couple..." and then I decided that Wat's not allowed to have nice things.**

**This comment will make more sense after the next case.**

**And of course Phoenix's oldest son puts in his first appearance! Don't worry about him, he'll be back in the next case, and you'll get to see what he's like when he's currently not taking out his mommy issues on the rest of his family.**


	7. Sleeping Turnabout, Part I

**A/N: Sorry for totally slowing down the updates. School's started up again and I've been working on writing the script to a fangame lately, too. Anyway, that's why this chapter is relatively short: I wanted to update. Sorry!**

* * *

_December 27, 9:45 PM, Gatewater Apartments, Room #281_

Maria sighed. It had been a long week. Of course, Christmas was her favorite time of year, but that didn't mean it couldn't be exhausting, and that really only meant that it was extra depressing when the Christmas spirit suddenly left as soon as she headed home from the Christmas party. Really, though, it was her first Christmas back in the States, and her first Christmas with her family where she had to worry that an argument over religion would break out.

Naturally, it did. Ultimately, it had been set aside, but there was still tension between her, her father, and Miguel. And Miguel, who had always been the more emotional of the two, had at one point burst into angry tears. That was awkward. Also, Miles had ended up storming out of the party after getting into yet another argument with his father. At least that hadn't happened until the party had already wound down.

The days after Christmas, however, had gone marginally better, even if she was the one driving various people to the airport, which was just as well because driving was simple and it meant she didn't have to think about anything but the road.

Almost everyone - except for Maria's father and the kids - from Wright Anything Agency had left town immediately after Christmas. Apollo Justice was visiting his half-sister's family in Texas, mostly because her husband hadn't been able to make it to the Christmas party. Athena Cykes was somewhere in Europe. Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth were in Washington, D.C. Kristoph Gavin was in San Francisco, which in conjunction with the fact that Franziska von Karma and Klavier Gavin had both left around midnight the previous night on urgent business (Franziska to Zheng Fa and Klavier to Germany, and they wouldn't be back for several weeks), meant that Jana had ended up staying with the Wrights (who were being watching by Maria's father during the day and Miles during the night) until at least Kristoph got back. Meanwhile, Maria had agreed to watch over Alois, who arguably didn't need to be watched over, but then, he wasn't supposed to be on his own.

That was just as well. It actually proved convenient for Maria. And speaking of Jana, anyway, she had been frustrating lately. Maria had thought that she was starting to exhibit some real personal growth after the Kurain Caverns case, but as it turns out, her willingness to find the truth there had pretty much been an anomaly. In her subsequent cases, she went back to wanting to demand a verdict as soon as it looked favorable and just leaving it at that. Not that Maria let her, of course, but constantly having to shove Jana down the straight and narrow was vexing, to say the least. Maybe, Maria thought, what spurned her on to find the truth at Kurain Caverns was the fact that Oliver was in danger.

Maybe Jana did like him after all? Maria paused and jotted that down in her notebook. She should probably look into that.

"What are you writing, sowieso, Maria?" Alois said from further down the hallway - he had been looking over the railing at the city lights, although now he was looking at Maria curiously. His breath hung in the frosty night air.

"Nothing," Maria said, doing her best to sound disarmingly cheerful. "Come on, it's chilly out here. Let's go inside." She put her hand on the doorknob - to her surprise, it was unlocked. Had she merely forgotten? That was odd… this was a relatively bad part of town. How could she forget?

"Ja, natürlich," Alois said brightly, although he didn't move from where he was leaning on the railing. Maria opened the door -

And that was the last thing either of them remembered.

* * *

_December 27, 10:10 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

"Is that your phone or mine?" Maya Valerie said, "or was it just the ambulance that just went by?"

"Um, I believe that is my phone," Jana said, sitting up and digging in the couch cushions for it. Maya Valerie helpfully directed her flashlight towards her. "Ach, here it is," Jana said. It was Alois. "Hallo," she said, picking up the call.

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end of the line uncertainly. It wasn't Alois. "Hello, am I calling a relative of - of this kid?"

"What kid?" Jana said, suddenly wary, "who are you? Why do you have Alois' phone?"

"So that's what his name is," the person on the other end said, "are you his little sister? I need to speak to his parents."

"Our parents are out of town," Jana said flatly. What was going on?

"Well, aunt, uncle, friend of the family, anybody at all. And you," the voice said, "come to Gatewater Apartments. Room, uh…" Movement. "281. Door's open, paramedics will be here soon - can't miss it."

"Paramedics?!" Jana said, sitting bolt upright.

"Wh-what happened?" Maya Valerie said, startled.

"Just come as soon as possible," the voice said, then hung up. Jana stared at the phone in her hand for a minute, then jumped up.

"Jana, what happened?" Maya Valerie said, also jumping up.

"I - I do not know - I am going to Maria's apartment! I can run there - it is nearby - where is my jacket?!" Jana said, running out of Maya Valerie's room and looking around the darkened Agency, disorientedly.

"I heard something about paramedics," Maya Valerie said, putting her hand to her mouth. "I'll go get Miles," she said, and ran in the opposite direction down the hallway. By the time Maya Valerie had woken up her older brother, Jana had already found her jacket and was out the door and running down the street as fast as she could.

* * *

_December 27, 10:13 PM, Gatewater Apartments_

The person on the other end of the line was right: it was hard to miss Maria's apartment. The door was wide open, and there was an ambulance waiting in the street, siren blaring loudly. It was probably the one Jana and Maya Valerie had heard earlier. Jana rushed past the ambulance and attempted to run into room 281, but she was stopped by thickly-bespectacled man with sparkly light blue hair and black, feminine-looking clothing.

"Wait, you shouldn't go in there-" he said. Jana recognized his voice as the person who had picked up Alois' phone.

"What happened?!" Jana screamed at him, "What is going on?!"

Jana's question was answered when a couple of paramedics hurried a stretcher past them. Lying on it was Maria Fey-Armando, unconscious with a nasty head wound.

"Sh-she's still alive, I think," the blue-haired man said frantically, grabbing Jana's shoulder, "at least she was when I found her. And the other kid isn't even injured-"

"The one you grabbed the cell phone from?" Jana demanded.

"Yep," the man said, thumbing vaguely towards the apartment. Only now did Jana see him, since he was surrounded by paramedics and police officers, the former of which were trying to control the amount of questions the latter were asking: Alois, with a shock blanket and a thousand-yard stare. Jana could see blood on his clothing.

"Alois!" Jana yelled, pushing the sparkly-haired man roughly aside and pushing her way through the small crowd. "Weißt du was passiert ist?!"

Alois started, then looked up at Jana with unfocused eyes. "Ich weiß nicht…" he mumbled. _I don't know_.

"Are you a relative of his?" one of the nearby paramedics asked.

"L-Little sister," Jana said, "the other woman is my assistant."

The paramedic nodded vaguely. "She was assaulted," he said, "I'm sure she'll be fine, and your brother isn't injured, physically at least," the paramedic added, "but he was unconscious when we found him and so far he hasn't been able to answer any of our questions. Does he speak English?"

"Yes," Jana said, struggling to keep calm, "h-he has severe hemophobia, and sometimes he will only speak German when he is… stressed."

"Hmm," the paramedic said, "can you ask him if he saw what happened to the woman - Maria Fey-Armando, was it?"

Jana nodded and repeated the question in German. Alois shook his head. "He probably will not remember what has happened for several weeks, if he ever does at all. In situations like this, he loses his memory concerning the events that caused him to come into contact with blood in the first place," Jana explained to the paramedic.

"So this has happened before?" the paramedic said. Jana nodded again.

"Excuse me," a lab-coat-wearing middle-aged woman said, "is the boy free to go?"

"Um," the paramedic said, "I can't in good conscience recommend that, Detective Justice."

"Skye, please." Oh. Jana thought she looked familiar.

"Anyway, he doesn't remember what happened," the paramedic said, "unless the victim wakes up, I don't think you'll find out who the assaulter is."

"I wouldn't say that," Detective Skye said, adjusting her pink glasses, "I've been talking to the person who found them." She crossed her arms, then glanced at Jana. "Hey Jana," she said, "haven't seen you around lately."

"…hello," Jana said. She wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

Detective Skye didn't say anything for a moment, only looking to the side evasively. "I see some of Mr. Wright's kids are here," she said at length, "I heard you were staying with them until your parents get back. Go to them."

"But-" Jana started, but Detective Skye shooed her away.

"What happened?" Maya Valerie asked. She had arrived with Miles, but Jana didn't know when.

"That was Maria they just took off in the ambulance, wasn't it?" Miles said, "since this is her apartment, and Alois is just over there…"

"Th-the paramedic just said she will be fine," Jana said hollowly, "he also said it was an assault."

"…that's terrible," Miles muttered.

"Poor Alois. He must be terrified," Maya Valerie said, hand to her mouth.

"How is he?" Miles said.

"He is not injured," Jana said, "but there was blood on his clothing."

"Ah," Miles said, grimacing. "Does he remember what happened, then?" Jana shook her head. They fell silent and watched as Alois was led into the remaining ambulance and sped away into the night, along with the paramedics and Detective Skye. A singular police officer remained, presumably to guard the crime scene.

"I wonder what'll happen now," Maya Valerie whispered.

"…I'll go find out," Miles said, putting on a (in Jana's opinion, terribly forced) smile, and simultaneously tousling Maya Valerie's and Jana's hair in a big brotherly fashion. "You two head back to the Agency. Misty'll be awake."

And with that, he left. "I'm sure it'll be fine," Maya Valerie said sweetly. It didn't make Jana feel any better.

* * *

_December 28, 8:49 AM, Wright Anything Agency_

"Jana, wake up."

"Mmmnh…"

"Jana, seriously, visiting hours start in ten minutes. Get up."

Jana propped herself up on the arm of the couch, staring at Miles bleary-eyed. "What…?" she mumbled, then blinked rapidly, all at once remembering what happened last night. "M-Miles - do you know what-?"

"Get dressed. You need to go to the detention center," Miles said, doing his best to smile reassuringly, "Watson will take you."

"Detention center?"

"Alois got arrested."

* * *

_December 28, 9:10 AM, Detention Center_

"…hallo, Jana," Alois said. He looked so small and pathetic on the opposite side of the detention center glass.

"Alois," Jana said, swallowing hard. "Are you… well?"

"I'll live," Alois said, half-smiling. "Still don't remember much about last night, though…"

"Do you know Maria's condition?" Watson said carefully.

Alois looked at his lap. "Ace is one of the guards here," he said after a moment, "and he was late to work this morning because he was visiting her."

"How is she?" Jana asked.

"Pretty bad brain damage," Alois said, looking back up, "she hasn't woken up yet."

"She'll be fine," Watson said. If her confidence sounded empty to Jana, she could only imagine how it sounded to Alois.

"…ja," Alois said, "at the very least, I'd rather stand trial for assault than murder."

There was a brief silence.

"So they think you did it?" Watson said.

Alois shrugged. "The person who found us - a neighbor of Maria's, Ich denke - described the scene to Fräu Detektivin Skye, and something about it lead her to the conclusion that I was the only one who could have done it."

"But you did not," Jana said.

"She doesn't know that," Alois said, looking away, "I was there, offensichtlich, but I couldn't account for what I was doing since I don't remember… _anything_ beyond Maria saying it was cold out and we should go inside - I barely remember talking to the EMTs last night. So I could have done it, jein?"

"Of course not," Jana said irritably.

"Prove it in court, then," a new voice said. Jana and Watson turned around to see a tan-skinned, black haired man holding a cup of coffee. He was dressed in red and black, had a magatama around his neck, and was very, very attractive. Miguel Fey-Armando. Maria's little brother, Alois' best friend, and apparently completely unconcerned about the bad position both of them were in - although it was obviously only confidence that all would be well, as opposed to cruel apathy.

"Hmm," Alois said, his typical smile slowly returning, "my little sister defend me in court? Naja, I suppose it's either her or Herr Armando…"

"I've been up against Dad in court before, kitten," Miguel said, sipping his coffee, "but I've never been up against the filly before. It'll be interesting."

"E-Excuse me?" Jana said. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"So you're the prosecutor for this case?" Watson said, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted to take this one," Miguel said with a toothy smirk, "but anyway, I came here to give you a warning. Do you remember reading about the Dark Age of the Law?"

"…the thing that ended over 25 years ago?" Jana scoffed.

"That's recent enough for plenty of people in both the police department and the Prosecutorial Offices to remember it," Miguel said cryptically, "now, do you remember what caused it, filly?"

"Uncle Wright's disbarment?"

"And Herr Blackquill's conviction," Alois added.

"Guess which one this is similar to, considering the lack of motive and all?" Miguel said lightly, then took a swig of his coffee. "The point is, this trial is pretty much going to be all-or-nothing. A 'not guilty' verdict with _any_ doubt remaining in the public eye is going to lead to accusations of the Prosecutorial Offices covering things up just because the accused is a prosecutor. And a 'guilty' verdict will have the same issues Prosecutor Blackquill's conviction did 33 years ago."

"Which means…?" Jana said.

"Which means that the majority of the LAPD and the Prosecutorial Offices have already started doing damage control. They assume he's guilty and they're washing their hands as fast as possible. Only the relatively few who know him personally still want a fair trial here," Miguel said, "and obviously I'm one of them. Personally, I think my kitten's innocent. Which is why I came to tell you that there's only one acceptable outcome for this trial: not guilty by virtue of the fact that we figured out who _really_ bashed Maria's head in."

"Easier said than done," Watson said.

"…of course I - we can do it," Jana said resolutely.

"That's not your usual strategy," Alois commented.

"You are not my usual client," Jana said, "for the first time, I actually care that you did not do it, because I know for sure that you did not."

"And it'd be nice to not have a Dark Age of the Law in our time," Watson added.

"…danke," Alois said, looking at his lap again.

"I also came to see how my kitten's doing," Miguel said after interrupting a quiet moment with his coffee-slurping, "they're not treating you badly in there, are they, kitten?"

"Nein, of course not. I'm fine."

"If you need to, I have a few strings I could pull-"

"Miguel, bitte. I've been accused of a crime," Alois said resolutely, "I should be treated like any other suspect."

"…if you say so, kitten."

Watson glanced sidelong at Jana. "Are they…?" she whispered, hooking her pinkies together. Jana shrugged and shook her head. She hoped not, anyway.

"Well, I suppose I'll take my leave, then," Miguel was saying, "the crime scene is waiting. Oh, except that I have one last piece of bad news."

"I'm afraid to find out," Alois muttered.

"What is it?" Watson asked.

"Maria… isn't expected to wake up," Miguel said, and for the first time since he came here he sounded sad, "so this is being treated like a murder case."

"…I'm sorry," Watson said.

"Don't be," Miguel said, squaring his shoulders again and smiling reassuringly, "you and the filly need to stay strong for my kitten, for one thing. And besides, Maria and I are still Feys. Death doesn't mean much to us." He took another sip of his coffee. "If you need me, you know where to find me."

"Danke for coming by, Miguel," Alois said. At least he seemed to have been cheered somewhat, even if tomorrow Miguel would be trying to prove his guilt in court.

"No problem, kitten," Miguel said, "I'll see you three around." And he was gone.

"…so there's really nothing you can tell us?" Watson said, "anything at all?"

Alois shook his head. "For some reason, I keep thinking something was odd about the door, but I have no idea what."

"Then we will need to check out the door," Jana said.

"Have fun at the crime scene," Alois sighed, "if Fräu Detektivin Noir is there, tell her I said Grüß dich."

"Will do," Watson said, although her expression plainly read that she had no idea what "Grüß dich" actually meant.

* * *

_December 28, 10:00 AM, Gatewater Apartments, Room #281_

"I take it my kitten didn't have much to tell you," Miguel said, sipping his coffee.

"Well, it's not like he remembers anything," Watson said.

Maria's apartment was, as expected, a nice, neat place, tastefully decorated and also covered in blood. It was almost impressive that Maria could have lost so much blood and yet had hung onto life long enough that she was still alive by the time she got to the emergency room.

"She did like to talk about miracles," Miguel muttered to himself.

"So what exactly did the neighbor see?" Watson said.

"Well-"

"I'll spill, sir," said a Chicago accent. Detective Noir emerged from an adjacent room. She looked the same as ever, which ticked Jana off.

"Traitor!" she burst out, "you work directly under Alois for almost a whole year, and as soon as he gets arrested you turn around and work to secure his conviction? How could you?!"

"Easy there, little twist," Detective Noir said, holding her hands out defensively.

"He _trusted_ you!"

"And I'm not here to be a skid rogue, little frail," Detective Noir said, "I'm here to sniff out any possible lead that could lead us to the real perp."

"She begged to be on this case," Miguel added, sipping his coffee.

"…oh," Jana said, deflating. Only now did she notice the bags under Detective Noir's eyes and how disheveled her hair looked under her fedora.

Watson cleared her throat. "So what _happened_?"

"The neighbor heard screaming, so he rushed over to see if everything was jake. When he got here, the dish was on the floor and Alois was slugged in the corner. The weapon was lying on his hand."

"Lying _on_ his hand?" Watson said.

"The neighbor took a picture of the crime scene after calling for an ambulance," Miguel said, then pulled it out and showed it to Jana and Watson. It was as Detective Noir described, complete with a statue of Rodin's _The Thinker_ lying on top of Alois' outstretched hand. "He wasn't gripping it, which made sense because he was unconscious. Detective Skye figured that if he'd been framed, the real culprit would have wrapped his hand around it unnaturally, as opposed to placing it in a more natural position like this."

"There's also the problem about what the neighbor didn't pipe," Detective Noir said.

"What did the neighbor not… pipe?" Jana said, making a genuine effort to follow Detective Noir's speech pattern.

"He didn't pipe the real perp leaving the crime scene."

"…how long was it between the screams and the neighbor discovering the… discovering Alois and Maria Fey-Armando?" Jana said.

"He claims it was immediate," Miguel said, "although that remains to be seen."

"How does it remain to be seen?" Watson said, finally handing Miguel back the picture.

"See that statue of _The Thinker_?" Miguel said, pointing at it, "it's not really a statue. It's a clock. Last time I checked, it still worked, too."

"It's pretty old, so it might have been busted in the attack," Detective Noir said, "and if it was busted in the attack, we'd be able to tell the exact time it went down."

"…a clock shaped like a statue of _The Thinker_?" Watson said thoughtfully, putting one hand to her face, "that sounds familiar."

"It should," Miguel said, sipping his coffee, "it's actually the exact same clock that killed our mother. Maria picked it up at a police auction several years ago."

"…that's really morbid."

"Maria could be like that."

"Hopefully she'll continue to be like that," Detective Noir muttered, "Prosecutor Fey… they're fitting her out for a Chicago overcoat, aren't they?"

"She'll pull through," Miguel said confidently. Meanwhile, Jana's attention was caught by a framed photograph on Maria's desk. It was one of Maria, Miguel, and Armando standing in one of the Prosecutor's Lobbies at the courthouse. Miguel and Armando looked the same as ever, with identical toothy smirks and coffee cups, but Maria stood out. For one thing, Maria's now-typical black sweater was absent, revealing her bright red spaghetti-strap tanktop for the world to see. She also had at least four piercings on each ear, which looked a little odd in retrospect. But strangest of all was her mischievous smile and the cup of coffee in her hand. "What are you looking at there, filly?"

"This picture…"

Miguel walked over, picked up the photo, and scrutinized it. "I remember this," he said, "we took this right after my debut trial three years ago. This was also right after Maria started working for QLF… it wasn't long afterwards that she joined that weird cult, gave up the coffee, and turned her back on us."

"…oh." Jana didn't know what to say to that. She tried to imagine Alois just one day turning his back on his family, but she really couldn't. Instead, she opened one of the desk drawers. It was empty. "Miguel, do you have any idea what the motive is?"

"'We're' assuming my kitten got into an argument with Maria and lost control of himself," Miguel said, "which is why he didn't pass out at the first sign of blood - he wasn't in a normal state of mind until after Maria had already passed out."

"What would Alois and Maria possibly argue about, though?" Watson said.

Miguel shrugged. "I just work here, Wat."

"The angle that she interrupted a gonif was considered," Detective Noir said, "but nothing seems to be hot from her dive."

"…was there anything odd about the door?" Watson said, walking over to it, "Alois said he remembered something about it."

"The lock wasn't forced," Detective Noir said, frowning, "which was another reason why Detective Skye said there couldn't have been a greaser involved."

"Interesting," Watson muttered to herself, crouching by the door, "Miguel, can I see that cell phone picture again?"

"Sure," Miguel said, handing it to her.

Watson spent a moment looking from the crime photo to the door. No, not the door, Jana noticed - a key on the ground by it. Watson handed the picture back to Miguel. "I can't really see anything."

"I'll get it enhanced by tomorrow," Miguel said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Is this the key to the house?" Jana said.

"It's got the room number on it," Watson said.

"If it is on the floor here, it is possible that Maria Fey-Armando dropped it while she was using it," Jana said slowly, "which would imply something in her apartment surprised her while she was entering it."

"Assuming the key's been there the whole time," Detective Noir pointed out, "if the croakers had kicked it over there while they were trying to patch up Fey-Armando, it's completely irrelevant."

"Hey. Don't give up hope," Miguel said, grinning at Detective Noir, "if we do that, my kitten's going behind bars and the bastard that did this to Maria is going to get away with it."

"Not if I can help it," Jana muttered.

"By the way, Detective Noir," Miguel said, "do you know how Detective Skye's search for other witnesses is going?" Detective Noir shook her head.

"There were other witnesses?" Watson said.

Miguel shrugged. "If there's any merit to the argument theory, then at least one of Maria's neighbors should have heard shouting."

"Have you heard anything so far?" Jana asked. Miguel shook his head and took a swig of coffee.

"I'm as out of the loop as the prosecutor heading up the case can possibly be, filly," he said, "there's a reason why the only officer here besides Detective Noir is just guarding the crime scene." He nodded towards the door. "Detective Skye's own investigation is at a standstill. I think she's waiting for some things from forensics, actually."

"I can probably find out what she's sent over ahead of time," Watson said thoughtfully.

"Well, it's not like there's much else for you here," Miguel noted, "I'll let the CAD know you're coming, for what it's worth."

* * *

_December 28, 12:00 PM, Criminal Affairs Department_

"Do you think they found fingerprints?" Watson said as they entered the building.

"Most likely not," Jana said, trying to sound cooler than she felt, "Alois is in the habit of wearing gloves, and since it is December, that is not unique to him."

"They're probably doing bloodstain analysis, then," Watson said, mostly to herself, then stopped in her tracks. "Oh. Hi, Mom."

The lab-coat wearing detective who had previously been discussing something with the director turned around. "Hi, Wat. You're helping out Jana?" She frowned. "You're defending Alois, aren't you?"

"Is that a problem?" Jana said defensively.

"You don't exactly come from the most ethical school of legal thought," Detective Skye said, pulling out a bag of chocolate Snackoos and munching a few. "I started my career during the Dark Age of the Law, so you understand why I'm worried."

"If you're worried about forged evidence-" Watson started.

"I didn't say anything like that. Anyway, how's your father?" Detective Skye said, changing the subject.

"Um," Watson said, slightly taken aback, "well, he kinda misses you."

Detective Skye scoffed. "After ten years?"

"You know how he is around Christmas…" Jana cleared her throat loudly. "Oh, right," Watson said, "what exactly did you send to forensics?"

"Nothing you won't find out about in court tomorrow," Detective Skye said, munching some Snackoos. Watson and Jana exchanged a glance. What else could they possibly do?

"Come on, Mom," Watson whined, tugging at the sleeve of her own labcoat nervously, "cut us some slack." She then quailed under Detective Skye's stern look, turned slightly to Jana, muttered, "Let's just go. There has to be something else somewhere else," and practically dragged Jana out of the Criminal Affairs Department.

* * *

_December 28, 7:00 PM, Wright Anything Agency_

There has to be something else somewhere else. Jana really wished that were true.

Watson and Jana had searched all day, aided by Miguel and Detective Noir, and, later, Maya Valerie and Armando, when the latter finally returned from the hospital. But other than a promise from Miguel to get an enlargement of the cell phone photo the neighbor took of the crime scene, Jana was completely and utterly unprepared for court, since even that she had to wait on: Miguel had ordered the enlargement alright, but he wasn't going to actually receive it until just before the trial. He also didn't know where the neighbor had gone to, although Detective Skye assured him that the weird sparkly-haired man would be ready to testify tomorrow.

To make matters worse, Jana had no idea what sort of opponent Miguel would be. Armando said that Miguel was a top-notch bluffer, but Miguel said that he wouldn't be bluffing during Alois' trial. Not yet, anyway. Not until he and Jana needed to work together to find the real would-be-killer. Under ordinary circumstances, Jana would have been oddly thrilled about the prospect of working together with Miguel. But under these circumstances, she only felt anxiety that she strove to crush.

It was better not to think about how the chips were stacked against them, Jana decided. You can't keep cool if you worry so much, Kristoph had told her once. And of all the cases she had taken since her debut, she needed her mentor's strength more than ever. Too bad he was in San Francisco.

"So how is Maria?" Misty asked as Armando got off the phone for the dozenth time since that morning.

"Her condition is stabilizing," Armando muttered, "but…"

There was a quiet moment. "But?" Misty prompted.

"_If_ she wakes up, it won't be for another five years at the least," Armando said, "no wonder they're treating this like a murder trial… the doctor's recommending I pull the plug already."

"It's only been about a day, though," Watson protested, "if she's stabilizing already…"

"I'm not a doctor, Wat," Armando said, sitting down heavily and summoning a cup of coffee.

"The brain damage must be pretty severe," Maya Valerie said quietly to Jana, "whoever did this must have been really angry at her. That's pretty scary…" she added, tearing up, genuinely this time. "It'll probably take a miracle for her to make it out of this alright."

"She never did shut up about miracles," Armando sighed, then sipped his coffee. "Maybe her God will come through for her this time."

"She'll be fine," Watson said abruptly, "five years in a coma is nothing, right, Mr. Armando?"

Armando shook his head. "It doesn't feel like anything," he said, "but when you wake up everything's different, and you lose the people dearest to you. That's just how it works."

"Then we'll just have to make sure none of us die," Maya Valerie said sweetly.

Armando was silent for a minute. "I don't think I have five years." He took a swig of his coffee. "I'm already 68, and it's a wonder I lasted this long after what your aunt did to me."

"Oh, stop whining," Dahlia said, appearing out of nowhere, "if you feel so bad about being old and frail, just retire already."

"I was planning on it."

_What happened to this conversation?_ Jana wondered incredulously.

The door opened and Miles stepped in, took a glance around, then frowned. "Investigation at a standstill?" he said.

"Yes," Jana sighed.

"Wish I could have helped," Miles sighed, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it up, "but they aren't happy at QLF right now. Josephson's been yelling at me all day…"

"Something to do with Maria?" Misty said.

Miles glanced at her, then disappeared into the kitchen without saying anything. A minute later, he came back with a cup of tea and settled onto the couch. "I can't really say."

"Why does your law firm deal in so much classified information, anyway?" Armando said.

"It's not me who deals in it," Miles protested, "Maria did, though, and apparently something… well, something happened to something. They wouldn't tell me much."

"Why are they asking you anything in the first place?" Maya Valerie asked, sitting next to him and casually stealing his tea.

"They assumed I might know something just because we're second cousins," Miles said, then yawned. "I guess tomorrow I'm supposed to check some things out… but I can't tell you that, either," he added, catching Misty's eye.

"I told her that law firm was trouble," Armando said, standing up and finishing off his coffee. "Guess it's a moot point now. Anyway, I'd better head home."

"Good night, Uncle Diego," Maya Valerie said sweetly.

"Hmph." He closed the door a little harder than necessary on his way out.

"…you don't think he suspects Alois, do you?" Watson said.

"He always acts like that around me," Maya Valerie said. Watson raised an eyebrow, to which Maya Valerie shrugged. "I think he's just stressed."

"And understandably so," Miles sighed, "so how are you holding up, Jana? I know Maria's the one in a coma, but things obviously aren't going so well on your end either."

"Miguel's the prosecutor," Misty volunteered.

"Oof," Miles said, wincing, "poor Miguel. Prosecuting his best friend for his sister's attempted murder… what is Edgeworth thinking?"

"Did Daddy even assign him in the first place?" Misty said, putting her hand to her mouth thoughtfully, "who's acting Chief Prosecutor while Daddy's in D.C., anyway?"

"No idea," Watson said, "not Mr. Blackquill, anyway. I don't think he ever lived down that thing with your dad, Jana."

Jana rolled her eyes. "For your information, Miles, Miguel wanted to take the case."

"Hmm," Miles said, stealing his now-cold tea back from Maya Valerie, "he must trust you a lot, then, Jana," he said with a kind of sappy smile. Jana looked away, slightly flustered.

"I'd better go, too," Watson sighed, picking up her scarf and wrapping it around her neck. "I'll see you in the Defendant's Lobby tomorrow, Jana." She, too, left before anyone could say anything.

"…huh," Maya Valerie said, "I thought Wat never wanted to be your co-counsel."

"Well, it is a unique situation," Jana said, although Maya Valerie had a point. Watson wasn't particularly close to Alois, so perhaps it was a little odd after all...?

"Er," Misty said, "does anyone know where Aunt Dahlia went…?"

"She mentioned something about having a little talk with Miguel, then left," Maya Valerie said.

"…thanks for telling us that earlier," Miles said, then started profusely apologizing when Maya Valerie burst into tears. Misty rolled her eyes.

"What could she possibly want to talk to Miguel about?" Jana said, playing with her riding crop in thought.

"Probably nothing to do with the case, don't worry about it," Misty said.

* * *

_December 29, 9:50 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #4_

"-I'm here, I'm here," Watson said, running into the room. She was shoving a couple scraps of paper into her pockets. "I'm not late, am I?"

"Do you own a watch?" Jana said derisively.

"…oh, I had time to spare," Watson sighed, glancing at the clock. "Sorry. I wanted to check some things. Hey, Alois."

Alois nodded, and gave her a slightly shaky smile.

"There is no need to be nervous," Jana informed him.

"I… I'm just worried," Alois said, "about Maria. And Miguel, too."

"Yeah, this must be pretty hard on him, too," Watson said, "it's hard on all the Armandos."

"I think that goes without saying," Alois sighed.

"Court will begin in just a few moments," the guard informed them.

"Are you ready, Alois?" Watson said.

"Are you?" he replied, smiling lightly, but Jana caught his voice wavering.

"Of course we are," Jana lied confidently, wagging her finger at him. And they entered the court for what would surely be the most difficult trial of Jana's life.

* * *

**Aaaand now that the aforementioned Miguel Fey-Armando has appeared, almost all of the next-generation OCs have shown up. Note the use of the word "almost". Heh heh heh...**

**Next update to come sometime in the next century, probably.**


	8. Sleeping Turnabout, Part II

**A/N: Another short chapter. I know, I know, I'm taking far too long to upload them. This case isn't even particularly hard to write, it's just that school started up again recently! :(**

* * *

_December 29, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom #4_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Alois von Karma-Gavin," the Judge said, banging her gavel.

"The defense is ready, your Honor," Jana said. Watson was standing beside her for what was, well, the first time.

"The prosecution is ready as well, your Honor," Miguel said, grinning, as a cup of coffee slid into his hand. _How does he do that, anyway_, Jana wondered, _is it some sort of strange Armando family power?_

The Judge nodded once. She looked unusually somber, probably because both the victim and the suspect were regulars in her court. "Very well. Mr. Fey, your opening statement, please."

Miguel took a swig of coffee, then began: "Around 10:10 at night two days ago, a resident of the Gatewater Apartments complex responded to some screaming he heard from an adjacent room. When he got there, the door was ajar, and he found… well, I suppose I'll just let the court see for itself," he finished with a grin, then presented the cell phone picture that he had shown Jana and Watson yesterday. "What happened should be evident."

"…it looks to me like the defendant was actually a victim," the Judge commented.

"Nope," Miguel said, sipping his coffee nonchalantly, "he wasn't injured at all. Not only that, but he was holding the weapon."

"Objection!" Jana said, "that could have easily been planted!"

"I think I'll leave that objection to the detective heading up the case," Miguel said, "the prosecution calls Ema Skye to the stand."

As Detective Skye took the stand, Jana chanced a look at Watson. She looked nervous.

"This is, of course, going to be almost entirely forensics talking," Watson said quietly.

"Then I will rely on you to counter it," Jana told her.

"Witness, name and occupation," Miguel said.

"Ema Skye. Police detective."

"You were one of the first ones on the scene, correct?" Miguel said.

"I was there right after the paramedics, but fortunately the neighbor had taken a picture of the scene as he found it before the paramedics arrived."

"Please tell us how the picture the neighbor took implicates the defendant," the Judge said. Jana detected a certain stiffness to her voice that she was unaccustomed to.

"As Prosecutor Fey said, the defendant wasn't injured at all and was found holding the weapon," Detective Skye said brusquely, "but the important thing is here is what wasn't captured by the picture. According to bloodstain analysis, it's borderline impossible for it to have been planted." There was a brief pause.

"That was concise," Miguel said, sipping his coffee.

"I prefer to leave the details for the cross-examination," Detective Skye said.

"I see the witness is already way ahead of us," the Judge said tersely.

"In that case, the defense had better catch up," Miguel suggested.

"Hold it!" Jana said, "there I some evidence that the prosecution has yet to present."

"Ah, right, almost forgot," Miguel said smoothly, "as promised, the enlargement," he added it to the court record, "and, of course, the weapon, as should be expected."

Jana took a look at the enlargement. The key was lying by the door like it had been yesterday, but Jana had a creeping uncertainty that she wouldn't be able to run very far with that.

"Let me see that," Watson muttered, nudging Jana.

The weapon, meanwhile – the statue of _The Thinker_ - didn't appear to have anything particularly noticeable about it. It had some blood on it and the neck was cracked, and according to the description it had stopped at 9:47. That was about it.

"Ms. von Karma," the Judge said patiently.

"Oh, right, the cross-examination," Jana said, putting the court record aside. She coughed. "W-Witness, how exactly do the bloodstains on the weapon rule out the possibility of it being planted?"

"They're too clean," Detective Skye said.

"Clean?" Jana said.

Detective Skye nodded. "The bloodstains cut off exactly where we would expect them to, considering the culprit was holding the statue. Er, clock. Anyway, if the weapon had been transferred from the hypothetical real culprit's hand to the defendant's, you would expect some smudging."

"So… it would have been difficult to plant," Jana said nervously.

"Almost impossible," Detective Skye said, "if the defendant is being framed, than the true culprit would not only have to have a fairly extensive knowledge of forensics, but also be able to plan around this on the fly… and have extremely steady hands."

Jana paused. "What about the defendant's gloves?" she said.

"As expected, there was very little blood on the palms - only on the hand that the weapon was resting on when he was discovered, in fact - but the backs of the gloves were covered in blood."

Jana put her hands over her ears, but suddenly: "Ob- …OBJECTION!"

It took the court a moment to realize that Watson was the one who objected. She was presenting the enlarged photo.

"Yes?" Detective Skye said measuredly.

"Th-the defendant's hand was lying in a pool of blood," Watson stammered. She was clearly almost overwhelmed with the fact that she was objecting to her own mother... "The blood on his gloves would have been easy to fake!"

"That doesn't mean that it _was_ faked," was all Detective Skye had to say to that.

Watson grimaced but pressed forward nonetheless. "Look at the bloodstains on the floor," she said, pointing at the enlargement again, "the, um, the transfer patterns here… the defendant was obviously dragged to where he was lying when the neighbor found them!" she shouted, pointing shakily.

The whole courtroom was taken aback… except for Miguel, who only sipped his coffee, and Detective Skye, who didn't even blink.

"W-Well?" Watson said.

"The defendant obviously crawled there," Detective Skye replied, "that would leave the same patterns."

Now it was Watson's turn to cringe. "Is there nothing else?" Jana muttered to her.

"…that depends on, er, what the prosecution assumes happened with Alois passing out," Watson said, recovering.

"It can only have been after Maria fell unconscious," Miguel said, finishing off his mug of coffee and summoning a new one, "there's only one way it could have happened. The defendant flew into a wild rage, and once it was over, he came to his senses and finally noticed the blood all around him. He crawled to his little corner and passed out, himself."

"Objection!" Jana said, "my client's phobia of blood is so severe that-"

"-that he would have had to be in abnormal state of mind," Miguel said casually, "next objection, filly."

"Um," Jana said, twisting her riding crop in her hand apprehensively, "so you think that the defendant and victim were arguing about something, and the defendant… flew into a wild rage?"

"Yes, and no, we don't know what they were arguing about," Miguel said.

"Objection!" Jana said again, "Alois would never-!"

"Ha!" Miguel said, "surely you've figured this out by now - but my kitten has claws. We shouldn't be surprised when he scratches."

"Claws or not, he would never have done that to _Maria Fey-Armando_ of all people," Jana protested.

"Women are most likely to be assaulted by lovers," Miguel pointed out.

"…Alois is _sixteen_," Jana said.

Miguel thoughtfully took a swig of coffee, then said, "I forget that sometimes."

"Doesn't he have enough problems _without_ a corruption of a minor charge on top of all this?" Watson said exasperatedly, then dodged a flying coffee cup.

"_Anyway_," Detective Skye said pointedly as Miguel summoned yet another mug of coffee, "the fact that the grip on the weapon was never loosened for the duration of the attack supports the 'wild rage' theory."

"But you admit the possibility that the defendant could have been framed," Jana said quickly.

"The possibility, yes," Detective Skye said, playing with her hair, "a small one. Assuming the framer was a forensics expert, as I said before."

"But they could have been," Jana insisted.

"Any ideas of they could have been, more than a forensics expert?" Miguel said, grinning toothily.

"…äh," Jana said, wincing, "a burglar, perhaps-?"

"Nope," Miguel said, taking another swig of coffee. "Nothing was missing."

"Nothing?" Jana said.

"The victim kept a detailed inventory of her belongings," Detective Skye said, "the only item unaccounted for was an umbrella."

"And before you jump on that, filly," Miguel said, "there was nothing special about the umbrella whatsoever."

"Who steals an umbrella, anyway?" the Judge said, "Ms. Fey-Armando must have just left it somewhere."

"Exactly, your Honor," Miguel said with a smug grin.

"Does the defense have any further questions for me?" Detective Skye said. She looked almost bored. Like she hadn't just dug Alois' grave.

"Er," Jana said at the same time Watson said, "um."

"It would appear they don't," the Judge said, "Detective Skye. You may go now."

"Gladly," Detective Skye said, then slinked out of the courtroom with a swish of her labcoat.

"…guess they still haven't resolved their differences after 23 years," Watson said under her breath.

"I suppose I'd better call up another witness, then," Miguel said, slurping his coffee, "assuming the defense has no objections."

"…go ahead," Jana said cautiously.

"The prosecution calls Mel Keyway to the stand."

The man who had called Jana on the phone two nights ago took the stand. He looked somber, except not quite - Jana got the impression that he was trying very hard not to smile and play it up for the gallery.

"Witness, name and occupation," Miguel said.

"My name's Mel Keyway. My father is a _famous_ actor." Jana had never heard of an actor with the surname of Keyway…

"Now, Mr. Keyway. You're a neighbor of Maria's correct?" Miguel said, completely ignoring the fact that Keyway had neglected to list an actual occupation.

"Yes," Keyway said, with a professionally bleached smile, "I live in apartment number 279. It's just a two doors down."

"…is the flat between your apartment and the victim's currently unoccupied?" the Judge asked.

"I think so," Keyway said.

"It is, your Honor. Witness, you were the one who discovered the crime scene in the first place, correct?" Miguel said.

"Yes."

"Well, why don't you tell the court about it?" Miguel said, sipping his coffee with an amused air.

"Of course," Keyway said flipping his hair, "although there's not much to say. I heard some screaming, then there was a thud and it went quiet. I was worried for the safety of my neighbor, of course, so I headed over to check it out. The door was unlocked and slightly ajar… then I walked it and called 911."

"Did you see anyone fleeing from the premises at that time?" the Judge said.

"No, ma'am," Keyway replied.

The Judge nodded vaguely. "Very well, Ms. von Karma. Your cross-examination, please."

Jana glared at the witness for a second before asking a question. "Witness, could you elaborate on the screaming that you heard?"

"It sounded like a woman screaming," Keyway said thoughtfully, "but there may have been two voices."

"Two voices?" Jana said, "were they arguing, or…?"

"The woman screamed, in fear, I think, and the other voice shouted something a couple times."

"That sounds more like the moment of the attack than an argument," Watson commented. Jana nodded.

"Witness," she said, "can you describe this second voice?"

"I think it was a man's voice."

"Age? Accent?"

"…just a man's voice. He sounded kind of young, I guess."

Jana frowned. "After that, you heard a thud, yes?"

"Yes," Keyway said, flipping his hair again, "a thud. Like a body falling to the floor."

"That's all you heard?" Jana pressed, "just the body falling?"

"Are you trying to ask if he heard the sound of the clock hitting Maria's head?" Miguel interrupted.

"No," Jana snapped, "it is just strange that he should only hear _one_ body falling when _two_ people fell unconscious. By the prosecution's own admission, the defendant would have passed out _after_ the victim, so-"

"He didn't fall," Miguel cut her off, "at least not as heavily as Maria would have. He was crawling, remember? Most likely he fell to his knees…"

"W-Well," Jana said, backpedaling, "it _is_ possible that the witness could have heard the sound of Maria Fey-Armando being hit, as long as he-"

"I was in my apartment when I first heard the screaming," Keyway cut her off before Jana could suggest that he wasn't in his apartment.

"But your apartment is two doors down," Jana protested, twisting her riding crop again, "how did you hear the screaming in the first place?"

"Maria can scream pretty loudly when she wants to," Miguel said, taking a sip of coffee, "and I can't really think of a situation where she would want to scream more."

"The witness testified that he heard a _male_ voice as well-"

"My kitten can also scream pretty loudly when he wants to."

_This is really, really not going well_, Jana thought, grimacing. She pressed forward nonetheless. "Witness. You claim the door was unlocked when you got there."

"It was," Keyway said.

"Normal unlocked, or forced entry unlocked?" the Judge said.

"Normal unlocked," Miguel answered her, "and none of the windows were forced open, either." He took a sip of his coffee again. "Considering Maria's key was not on her person when the paramedics came for her, she most likely used it – meaning there was no one in the apartment when she arrived with the defendant."

"Objection!" Jana said, "there could have been someone in the house!" She presented the ever-useful enlargement and pointed at the key on the floor. "Maria Fey-Armando dropped the key to her apartment near the doorway – clearly, as she was walking in! Which means she was surprised by something in the house!"

"Or surprised by the defendant suddenly attacking her," Miguel said drily.

"Objection!" Jana said again, "the weapon came from _inside_ the house! If the victim were the one with the key, she would have been the one in the house first – if the defendant had waited until he was inside the house before attacking her, Maria Fey-Armando would have already replaced the key! It would not be on the floor!"

The gallery started whispering, and for the first time Jana started feeling that maybe she had a chance. Miguel even took a drink of his coffee with a smile and said, "Good show, filly. I hadn't even thought of that."

"…wait a minute," Keyway said suddenly, "isn't it still possible that the defendant attacked her as she was entering the house? Just because he ended up using the statue doesn't mean that's what he used at first."

"Th-there are no traces of other wounds on the medical report," Jana stammered.

"…oh, alright," Keyway said, "but isn't it still possible that it fell out of the victim's pocket or purse or wherever she kept her keys as she was being attacked?"

"I was under the impression that things don't just fall out of bras," Miguel said, sipping his coffee impassively.

"And the attack itself was further into the apartment," Jana said, extending her hand towards the witness stand, "as evidenced by both the bloodstains and the state that you yourself found the crime scene in. If the key had simply fallen, why would it be by the door?"

Keyway didn't say anything, but Miguel did. "I have a question of my own for the witness, actually."

"Yes?"

"Tell us," he said, slamming his coffee cup on the prosecution bench, "what exactly you did between entering the apartment and taking the photo of the crime scene." Jana put her hands over her ears again. She knew exactly where this was going.

"Let's see," Keyway said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully (actually, it looked more like stroking an invisible beard, "I entered the apartment… I saw what was in it… I thought that maybe they were dead. I went and checked Ms. Fey-Armando's pulse, then I checked the kid's pulse. Then I called 911, and the operator suggested I take a picture of the scene exactly as I had found it before the paramedics arrived."

..._ach_. "Which means," Miguel said, sounding just a little disappointed, "that it's possible that the reason why the key got all the way over to the door was because the witness had, unintentionally, kicked it over there while he was checking pulses."

"But," Jana said, "but why did you check Maria Fey-Armando's pulse first, witness? Alois was closer to the door!"

"She caught my attention first," Keyway said, coughing embarrassedly.

Jana growled. Her one contradiction had just gone up in smoke… wasn't there anything else she could go after? "Witness," she said, "going back to the voices you heard…"

"The male voice must have been the attacker," Keyway said promptly, "and since he sounded kind of young, it must have been the defendant, right?"

"Wrong," Jana snapped, "are there no other young men in the area?"

"I'm actually the youngest man living in Gatewater Apartments," Keyway said.

"…that was not what I meant," Jana said, "nor is it particularly relevant."

"Whatever," Keyway said, "look, no one left the room before I entered it."

"And when did you enter it?" Jana demanded, hoping against hope for a window of opportunity for the real culprit to have escaped. She needed to substantiate the possibility…

"If I remember correctly," Keyway said slowly, "I entered… er, well, I don't remember, but I'm sure it was immediately after the crime," he said quickly.

"No problem," Miguel said, "just tell us about how much time passed between you discovering the scene and you calling 911."

"Maybe a minute?"

Jana frowned again. "You also took the defendant's phone and used it to call a family member – in this case, me. How much time passed between the 911 call and that call?"

"I grabbed the kid's phone right after I took the picture," Keyway said.

Jana hesitated for a minute. Maybe…? She whipped out her phone and checked the call history… then smirked. "Witness," she said, "you called me at 10:10 PM. Which means you can't have possibly discovered the crime scene until 10:00 at the earliest."

"…yeah, I guess so," Keyway said, "so what?"

"So," Jana said, "there is a huge gap in your testimony."

"A… huge gap?" Keyway said, glancing at Miguel, who was impassively drinking his coffee.

"Yes," Jana said, slamming the defense bench with her riding crop, "there is a gap in your testimony of at least 13 minutes _because the crime took place at 9:47 PM!"_

Keyway recoiled, his hair shooting out sparkles. "Wh-whaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

"The weapon itself proves it!" Jana yelled, presenting _The Thinker_ clock.

"Well, witness?" Miguel said, smiling dangerously, "didn't you say that you discovered the crime immediately?"

"I - I never said that," Keyway said, sweating.

"Really now?" Miguel said, "because it seems to me like that's the only way you could have heard any screaming."

"Th-that… well," Keyway said, "um."

"Explain yourself, witness," the Judge said.

"I _did_ discover the crime scene," Keyway said defensively.

"About fifteen minutes after the crime took place," Watson pointed out. Keyway fell silent.

"_Well,_ witness?" Miguel said with a mad grin, "if you heard the attack itself… why didn't you call emergency services for almost a quarter of an hour?"

"I - I - I," Keyway stuttered, "don't look at me like that. It wasn't anything suspicious-"

"Really now?" Miguel said.

"Y-Yeah, I just…" Keyway looked at his shoes, "…was exaggerating a little bit about the moment of the attack."

"…exaggerating?" said the Judge.

Keyway shrugged. "I didn't hear anything..." The gallery began muttering again, and the Judge called for order.

"You did not hear… anything?" Jana said.

"I, um, just thought it would be more exciting if I said I did," Keyway said. There was a long silence.

"This is a _court of law_," the Judge said abruptly, "witness."

"I know," Keyway snapped.

"…that's a pretty flimsy excuse," Miguel said, back to sipping his coffee.

"It's not an excuse," Keyway said, "look, you said that the crime took place at 9:45, right? I have an alibi."

"No one has accused you of anything, witness," the Judge said.

"Whatever," he said, digging in his pockets for a minute, then withdrawing a little slip of paper. "At the time of the crime, I was on the train. Look, it's my ticket."

"That could have been acquired at any time," Jana said, "and there is no proof that you used it."

"Unless he was caught on security cameras," Miguel said, deflating slightly.

"What _else_ is a lie, witness?" Jana demanded, determined to push past this.

"Nothing," Keyway said, looking uncomfortable, "I actually thought the crime was only a few minutes before I got home because, well, they were still there but they were still, you know, alive. I was definitely the first one on the scene."

"I do not know about that," Jana said, smirking again, "your testimony proves one thing."

"That there was a fifteen-minute gap in which a different culprit could have escaped without being seen," Miguel finished for her.

"Oh my," said the Judge, "do you have a rebuttal to this, Mr. Fey?"

"Not presently," Miguel said lightly, sipping his coffee.

"…however, it is true that apart from this window of opportunity, the case against the defendant is very solid," the Judge said gravely.

"You cannot declare a verdict before the window of opportunity is examined fully!" Jana objected.

The Judge thought for a minute, then nodded. "Very well then," she said, "both the defense and prosecution need to figure out what exactly happened between the attack and the discovery of the scene. I'll be expecting some answers tomorrow. Until then, this court is adjourned."

* * *

_December 29, 3:37 PM, Detention Center_

"That was close," Watson sighed.

"Kein Scherz," Alois said, grimacing.

"At least we extended the trial for another day," Jana said, wagging her finger.

"More like you delayed the inevitable for another day," Alois said, rolling his eyes, "once the three-day period is up, Miguel will have no choice but to win."

"…there is always the retrial," Jana said.

"Didn't you hear him yesterday, about the Dark Age of the Law?" Watson said, frowning, "if Alois gets convicted here… it's all over."

Alois sighed and looked away. "Perhaps you should head over to the crime scene," he said.

"Yeah, we should," Watson said, standing up, "come on, Jana."

Jana lingered for a moment, as Alois had yet to leave, either.

"Are… are you going to be… okay?" she asked hesitantly.

Alois smiled softly at her. "You've never worried about me before, little sister. Now's not a good time to start." He leaned forward slightly, hands on his hips, the way their father did. "You need to keep a cool head now more than ever, ja?"

"…ja," Jana said at length, then left to catch up with Watson.

* * *

**Yes, those of you who read T-Minus Turnabout: Mel Keyway is the son of Mal Keyway. But this is just a reference, not a tie-in.**


	9. Sleeping Turnabout, Part III

**A/N: Blah, I'm going to continue blaming school for my update schedule/unusually short chapters. Also the fact that I'm working on the script for a fangame.**

* * *

_December 29, 3:50 PM, Gatewater Apartments, Room #281_

"We checked out Keyway's alibi," Miguel said, "he was caught on security footage all the way home… not only that, but at about 9:40 he dropped an entire carton of eggs while checking out at a grocery store fifteen minutes away. By car. He took the train, which takes longer."

"So the cashier remembers him, huh?" Watson said.

"Which makes it literally impossible for him to be anywhere near the crime scene when the crime was taking place," Miguel said, "so he's not suspicious."

"He is merely an idiot," Jana deadpanned.

"Yep," Miguel said, slurping his coffee.

"…so we don't have any new leads," Watson said.

"Nope," Miguel said, without even withdrawing the coffee mug from his lips.

"Was that sparkly-haired fool really the only witness?" Jana said, bending her riding crop.

"As far as I know," Miguel said. Watson raised an eyebrow at him, touching her bracelet lightly. Miguel just shrugged and turned back to his coffee.

Jana looked around the room again. She had successfully argued the possibility of a third person - who of course _must_ exist, since it was clearly impossible for Alois to be the culprit - but… there was nothing to prove their existence. All she had was a possibility. She knew Wright and Cykes and Armando and even Justice sometimes could build entire cases off of a single possibility, but her? She… was unsure. "Where is Detective Blanche Noir?" she asked, to distract herself.

"She's trying to spy on Detective Skye's investigation," Miguel said lightly.

"Okay, that's just sad," Watson said, "you'd think at the very _least_ Chief Gumshoe would-"

"Actually, I've been ordered to escort certain plugs around the crime scene," Detective Noir said, walking in. Miles was behind her.

"M-Miles," Watson said, clapping a hand to her face.

"QLF business?" Jana asked.

"Just checking something out," Miles said, his eyes serious. He walked over to Maria's desk, put gloves on, and addressed Miguel. "May I?"

"No problem," Miguel said, sipping his coffee impassively.

No one said anything as Miles silently searched Maria's desk. What was he looking for, anyway? It was empty when Jana had checked it and empty when the police had checked it before that. Then again, that seemed to be precisely the problem, judging by the look on Miles' face.

He gave the others in the room a hesitant glance before asking, "Did the police recover any… peculiar files?"

"No idea," Miguel said, "define 'peculiar files'."

"I don't know the nature of them myself," Miles said, "but I was told they exist and that I was supposed to come get them from Maria's apartment now that she's… well…"

"We found dust in those drawers," Detective Noir said, "are you thinking that the red hot sneezed it before they took a Mickey Finn?"

Miles gave her a blank look before Miguel translated, "do you think the culprit stole the files?"

"I… guess that's a possibility," Miles said, "I don't know what was in them, but QLF's desperate to get them back. They must be important."

Miguel took a sip of coffee before grinning toothily at Jana. "That makes things a little easier on us, doesn't it?"

"...it does?" Watson said. She looked distracted.

"Of course," Jana said, wagging her finger confidently, "if the files were missing from the crime scene, and they were taken by the attacker, then that would create a contradiction in the theory that Alois is the guilty party."

"Because if that were the case, the files would still be here," Watson said absently, "Miles, I don't suppose anyone's contacted QLF looking to make an exchange for this… sensitive information…?"

"Would he be here if anyone did?" Detective Noir said.

"It could be possible that they're just trying to get me out of the office," Miles said, crossing his arms and shrugging.

"Could you at least get us some conclusive proof that these files even exist at all?" Miguel said, "it's not much of a contradiction if it could very well be that there were no files to go missing in the first place."

"And some sort of way to prove that it would have been the night of the crime that they were stolen," Jana added. She wasn't about to waste her big chance on a fairytale.

"…I'll try," Miles said dubiously.

"At least there's one lead, then, maybe," Miguel said, "now, what else?"

"Maybe that umbrella?" Detective Noir said.

"I thought she just left it somewhere," Watson said.

"That is merely what the Judge conjectured," Jana said, crossing her arms in thought, "…it is possible that the umbrella could be related to this. Remember how she hit that letch with it during the Kurian Caverns case?"

"And it hasn't been raining lately, so it should have still been in her house," Miguel said, sipping his coffee thoughtfully, "and if the culprit got hit with it…"

"…they would have glaummed it when they took the run-out," Detective Noir finished, "and probably junked it somewhere." She turned on her heel and took the run-out herself. Hopefully she would find the umbrella before court tomorrow… Jana had never doubted her skill as a detective (at least as far as she doubted her skill with the English language), but it was a little less than reassuring.

"Assuming she finds it," Watson said, "it'll be useless unless it has some good DNA evidence on it."

"It could prove a possibility," Miguel said.

"I cannot build my case off of possibilities alone," Jana voiced her earlier thoughts.

"What other choice do you have?" Miles said.

"Shouldn't you be headed back to QLF now?" Watson said drily. Miles rolled his eyes and he, too, left.

* * *

_December 30, 9:55 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby #4_

Like the day before, investigation yesterday had ground to a halt after barely any findings. Jana was understandably nervous. She hadn't heard the results of Detective Noir's search – if there were results at all – and Miles had been unable to secure definitive proof of the files' existence in the first place, let alone their location before the crime. She could see exactly how today was going to go. _My only option is to confuse the Judge into granting another day of trial_, Jana reflected as she bent her riding crop anxiously.

"Kleine Schwester, if you break that, I doubt Mama and Papa will buy you a new one," Alois said casually. Jana could hear the strain in his voice. She wondered if he knew she would notice.

"I think they would," Jana said, just for the sake of having a normal conversation.

"Jana, are we ready for this?" Watson said, shifting her weight from foot to foot apprehensively.

"Trial will begin shortly," the guard informed them.

"Yes, we are ready, Watson Justice," Jana said. She didn't know if it was a lie or not.

* * *

_December 30, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom #4_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Alois von Karma-Gavin."

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor."

"…the defense is ready, your Honor."

The Judge nodded somberly. "Mr. Fey," she said, "what were the results of your investigation into Mr. Mel Keyway's testimony?"

"He told the truth in the end," Miguel said, "so we're pretty much back where we started."

"Pretty much?" Jana said suspiciously.

"Well," Miguel said, taking a swig of coffee, "Detective Skye did manage to find another witness somehow."

Jana flinched. "A… Another witness, you say?"

"Yep," Miguel said, "the prosecution calls Rachel DeLite to the stand."

An attractive woman in a prison uniform was lead into the court. She was wearing a fancy-looking motorcycle helmet with a mask pattern on the front. She carried herself with a certain self-righteous swagger that Jana was not unfamiliar with.

"Witness, name and occupation," Miguel said. He wasn't bothered at all.

"And, um, please remove your helmet," the Judge said, "this is a court of law."

"No way," the woman said, "I don't want to reveal my secret identity!"

"Miguel already told us her full name," Watson commented, exasperated.

"Witness, name and occupation," Miguel said again. He looked entertained.

"I'm Motorcycle DeMasque!" she said, "also known as Mask DeMasque II. The real one. Not the one that got killed in some embassy like 35 years ago. And my occupation is _master thief!_"

"I… see," said the Judge.

"She was arrested for robbing the apartment next to the victim's," Miguel explained, "which she did at the time the crime took place."

"…and she is testifying about this in exchange for…?" Jana said.

"Nothing," DeMasque said, "just killing time until my own trial. My dad's old lawyer's out of town right now, so…"

"…why the prison uniform?" Watson said.

"And why did you rob an empty apartment?" the Judge asked.

"Let's see," DeMasque said, putting one hand on her hip and tilting her head, "well, the guards at the detention center thought my uniform had too many places to hide things, so they confiscated it and the only clothes I could borrow was this prison thing… and as for the apartment, I was trying to get some security codes from the occupant but it turns out I was supposed to go to _Grape Water_ Apartments, not _Gatewater _Apartments."

"…I see," said the Judge again.

_Does she realize that admission will be used against her in her own trial?_ Jana thought.

"Not that that's particularly relevant," Miguel said, grinning, "anyway, the point is she has no reason to embellish her testimony, so… let's get to it, witness."

"Of course, Mr. Prosecutor!" DeMasque said with a flamboyant bow, "ahem. On the night of December 27, at approximately a quarter to ten at night, I was in room number 280 at Gatewater Apartments. Now, the walls there are pretty thin, so I was able to hear a lot of what was going on in the apartment next to me." She paused, tilting her head the other way, "the first thing I heard was the door opening, then there was silence - or at least I didn't hear anything - then I heard a woman yell something like 'What do you think you're doing?!' and then there was a thwack - the woman started screaming after that, and I think there were a couple more thwacks. A man yelled something, but I couldn't make out what exactly he was saying… it sounded all muddled. Then there was thud, like something or someone falling down, then after that there were a few more thwacks and then another thud, and everything was quiet."

The court was silent for a minute.

"That was very detailed, witness," the Judge said.

"It's important to be detailed!" DeMasque said brightly.

"…that is true, I suppose," the Judge said, "well, Ms. von Karma. Your cross-examination…"

"Witness," Jana said, jumping right into it - she had no idea what her strategy even was here - "you claim you heard a male voice. Can you describe this voice?"

"Um…" DeMasque said, "he sounded… youngish, I guess?"

"Why are you so uncertain?"

"Because I'm not really sure what he was saying… the woman kind of drowned him out."

"Is there anything you _can_ tell us?" Jana pressed, "like his accent, or his tone of voice?"

DeMasque paused for a very long time. "His tone of voice," she said slowly, "it was maybe… I don't really want to say scared. That doesn't seem right to me." Jana flinched. "Maybe angry?"

"And were you able to discern an accent?" Watson said.

"I can't really place it."

"German, perhaps?" Miguel offered, sipping his coffee.

"Yeah, that's it," DeMasque said, perking up.

"O… Objection!" Jana yelled, "my client's accent is very light and not very noticeable!"

"…when he's calm, anyway," Miguel said, "but shouldn't you know that when he gets stressed, he relies more and more on German until he stops speaking English altogether?" He took a sip of coffee. "So his cute little accent just gets thicker and thicker."

"That might explain why I have no idea what he was saying," DeMasque said, "if he was speaking German…"

_Erk_. "But you cannot say for certain that the person who was yelling was, in fact, the defendant?" Jana said.

DeMasque shrugged. "Who else could it be?"

"The real culprit, obviously," Jana snapped.

"Calm down, filly," Miguel said, sipping his coffee amusedly, "why don't you ask the witness if she heard any _other_ voices?"

"…o-other voices?" Jana said.

"Hmmmmm," DeMasque said, "I remember thinking that the man sounded very… emotional."

"Emotional?" Jana said, picking herself back up. Maybe this was finally going somewhere.

"His… voice changed," DeMasque said, "sometimes it would sound a bit… I dunno, deeper? That's not really the right word."

"When the male voice sounded 'deeper'," Jana said eagerly, "did it become easier for you to understand?"

"I couldn't hear much over the lady screaming. She sounded mad."

_Mad…?_ Jana thought. Was that relevant? "But," she continued the line of questioning she was already on, "perhaps there is the possibility that what you heard was not one man being emotional, but rather two different men…"

"I guess," DeMasque said dismissively.

"The other man being the real culprit!" Jana shouted, extending her hand dramatically.

"Witness," Miguel said, "after all of the shouting was over, did you hear anyone leave the apartment?"

"Nope," DeMasque said. Jana put her hands over her ears.

"_Should_ you have heard the culprit leaving, though?" Watson spoke up, "if it were me, I would be very careful not to make any noise on my way out."

"Good point, Wat," Miguel said.

"Can the defense present any proof that this 'real culprit' exists, though?" the Judge said.

"W-We just proved the possibility!" Jana protested.

"I believe the only possibility you just proved was that the witness is easily influenced by whichever lawyer shouts the loudest," the Judge said.

"Maybe we should have brought my father along for this case, then," Watson muttered exasperatedly.

"I - I," Jana said, "I am not done with my cross-examination."

"Hmm," said the Judge severely.

"Just to clarify, witness," Jana said, ignoring the Judge's stern look, "you heard two thuds, like someone falling down?"

"Yep," DeMasque said, "two."

"Which is consistent with the fact that the defendant passed out at the scene of the crime," Miguel said.

"That is not what you were saying yesterday," Jana said sourly.

"Yesterday's witness was a lying imbecile," Miguel replied.

"Regardless, I would like to ask for some more details as to the circumstances surrounding these thumps," Jana said brusquely.

"Okay," DeMasque said cheerfully, "there was thump. And then there was another thump. And then it was silent."

"Silent… as in… it was not silent before that?" Jana said.

"Do thumps count as silence where you come from?" Miguel said.

"…all three of us were born in the same state," Watson muttered.

"Actually, there was screaming all up until the last thump," DeMasque said casually.

There was short pause. Jana and Miguel both smirked.

"If the screaming continued after the first thump," Jana said coolly, "then the second thump must have been the victim falling. Meaning that the defendant was the first thump… he couldn't have continued the attack after falling unconscious, of course."

"Assuming both thumps were the result of someone falling down unconscious," Miguel said, "and that both thumps belonged to different people."

"My theory is as plausible as any," Jana snapped, "witness - did you hear the male voice after the first thump?"

"…no," DeMasque said.

"Which means the owner of the male voice had passed out," Jana said, "yet if that man was Alois… as I said, he could not have continued the attack."

"Objection," Miguel said, "did you forget your own theory from earlier? About the male voice actually belonging to _two_ different men, one of which was the true culprit?"

"Um," Jana said. She had, actually.

"If that was the case, then shouldn't the male voice have continued even after the first thump?" Miguel said.

"Maybe he was being quiet," Jana snapped.

"This whole scenario seems pretty unlikely to me," Miguel said.

"But it is not impossible," Jana said.

"…hmm," the Judge said, "thoughts, Mr. Fey?"

Miguel smiled. "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth."

"…and my scenario is not something that was just eliminated," Jana said quickly.

The Judge sighed. "Well, I suppose…" she said, "however, Ms. von Karma, don't start thinking that you've won. You'll need more than a technically-not-impossible theory to get your brother off the hook."

"I… I know," Jana said, partially irritated and partially disheartened.

"Any other questions to ask the witness, then?" Miguel said.

"…not particularly," Jana said, frowning.

"What else can we do?" Watson whispered to her.

"…bring up the files?" Jana whispered back, then said in her normal voice, "The defense actually has a witness we would like to summon, your Honor."

"Oh, you do?" the Judge said. "Very well. Who is it?"

"A co-worker of the victim's," Jana said, "Miles Wright."

"I see," said the Judge, "in that case, this court will now take a fifteen-minute recess while-"

"Excuse me, your Honor, ma'am," a dark-suited man said loudly, suddenly standing up in the gallery, "due to the nature of this next witness, we would like to have a word with you."

"We? Who is we?" the Judge said, glancing at Jana. Jana shrugged at her in return. She had no idea what 'the nature' of Miles was. "…well," the Judge said, looking back at the dark-suited man, "in that case, the recess will be extended to thirty minutes. I will talk to you in my chambers. And I would like to see the witness in there as well."

* * *

_December 30, 12:45 PM, Defendant's Lobby #4_

"Alright, just what's going on here?" Miguel said, strolling into the defendant's lobby. "Filly? Wat? Kitten? Anybody actually know?"

"I… no," Jana said.

"It probably has something to with QLF," Watson said. She looked edgy.

"Aber… I always thought QLF was just another law firm," Alois said, "what could they possibly want with the Judge?"

"QLF is far from normal, believe me, kitten," Miguel said.

"Do _you_ know anything about them?" Watson said.

"Just that Maria didn't do much that had to with actual law until earlier this year," Miguel said, "and that she couldn't tell me what it was exactly that she _did_ do."

"…but," Jana said, twisting her riding crop, "all Miles was supposed to testify about was the existence of the files in the first place. Even if it classified information for some reason, that should not matter."

"I'm afraid neither of us know what's coming, then," Miguel said, although his tone of voice didn't match his somber words. "Hey. Kitten. About the filly's little scenario earlier…"

Alois shook his head. "Es tut mir Lied, but I still don't remember anything of what happened that night."

"We can make a pretty good guess, anyway," Watson said, tugging on the hem of her shorts.

"Guess indeed," Miguel said, sipping his coffee, "we still don't have any leads on the actual culprit apart from his gender. Probably."

"Pfui… tell Mama and Papa to visit me in prison, will you…?" Alois said to Jana.

"Speaking of Mama and Papa," Watson said, "I would've thought they'd be here."

"Mama will be arriving tomorrow," Jana said, "Papa will be arriving… in the next week, I think."

"Let's not welcome them back to America with their only son in jail, shall we?" Miguel said.

* * *

_December 30, 1:15 PM, Courtroom #4_

"Court is now back in session for the trial of Mr. Alois von Karma-Gavin."

There was a brief silence in the court. The gallery was empty except for Detective Skye, Detective Noir, Maya Valerie, and a few dark-suited men like the one who had interrupted Jana's witness summoning earlier.

"…er, your Honor," Miguel said, "why the sudden lack of spectators?"

The Judge shook her head. "I'm not sure myself. A few people related to the case were allowed to stay, but what exactly is going on here… well, at any rate, will Miles Wright please take the stand?"

Miles took the stand, glancing around the courtroom as he did. He, too, looked a little confused by the lack of a peanut gallery, but he also looked unsurprised. "For the record, my name is Miles Wright, and I am a finance lawyer at Quetzalcoatl Law Firm," he said unprompted. He probably knew court proceedings better than any witness Jana had seen so far…

"Hey, Miles," Miguel said, "maybe you can explain what happened to our audience?"

"…QLF business," was all Miles had to say.

"Let me guess. It's classified," Watson said sarcastically.

"I've been told to be careful what I say here," Miles said.

The Judge cleared her throat. "With that in mind… Ms. von Karma. What would you have the witness testify about?"

"…the QLF files," Jana said. Miles nodded.

"There's not much to say," he said, "except that I was sent to retrieve some files following the… incident. When I got there yesterday, they were gone. The police investigation apparently hasn't turned up anything of the sort, and as far as I know, the files haven't been turned in to QLF. Their current whereabouts are unknown, and we think the culprit took them."

"…and of course," Jana said, wagging her finger, "if the culprit had been Alois… why would the files be missing?"

"Assuming they exist in the first place," Miguel said.

"…true," said the Judge, "however, the cross-examination-"

"Hold it!"

Everyone looked around for a second before realizing that the interjection had come from an out-of-breath guard who had just ran into the room.

"…yes?" said the Judge.

"N-News! From the hospital!" the guard panted.

"News?" Miguel said, looking up, "don't just stand there. Tell us!"

"M-Ms. Fey-Armando… she's…" the guard said, "she's woken up!"

"She's woken up?!" Miguel said. Alois stood up in the defendant's box.

"That's - that's wonderful!" said the Judge.

"And that's not all!" the guard said, "as soon as she woke up, she… she yelled out in fear… the name of the defendant…."

* * *

**Rachel DeLite AKA Motorcycle DeMasque belongs to my friend Chloe.**


End file.
